5 reasons the Indiana Pacers will dramatically improve this season

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 22: Jarace Walker celebrates after being drafted eighth overall pick by the Washington Wizards during the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

4. They improved across the board on defense

The Pacers in recent years have struggled on defense finishing near the bottom of the league in defensive efficiency. Because of this, even with all of the talent on the offensive side of the ball they frankly couldn’t stop the other team reliably enough to consistently win games. The Pacers solved that resoundingly over the summer.

Through the draft, they added Jarace Walker. If you watched any of the summer league action you saw instantly that Walker will immediately improve the Pacers defense as he quickly showed why scouts were so high on his defensive abilities. Additionally, the Pacers payed big money to add Bruce Brown of the Nuggets, another player that is able to play high level defense at nearly four of the five positions on the court.

This means that the Pacers could potentially play a high-level defensive player at every position on the court: Andrew Nembhard, Bruce Brown Jr., Aaron Nesmith, Jarace Walker, and Myles Turner.

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