The Indiana Pacers are one win away from their second consecutive conference finals appearance and have established themselves as legitimate title threats. However, their postseason success should continue past this season due to their youth and financial situation.
This season, the Pacers have the 18th-highest payroll in the NBA, according to Basketball Reference. Of all the teams remaining in the playoffs, only the Thunder ranked lower on the list. Though things could change this summer with Myles Turner set to hit unrestricted free agency and Bennedict Mathurin being eligible for a new contract, this puts the Pacers in a good spot to compete for a long time.
The Pacers have most of their key starters and rotation players under contract for at least two more seasons. Furthermore, according to earlier reports, the Pacers do not have plans to pay the luxury tax this season. One of the biggest problems with today's NBA is that it is incredibly difficult for teams to be title contenders for a while due to the CBA. However, the Pacers might not have to worry about that as they are a young team in a good situation.
Indiana has played things perfectly over the last few years
Over the last handful of seasons, the Pacers gradually put themselves in a position to succeed. Whether it was the Tyrese Haliburton or Pascal Siakam trades, or drafting Andrew Nembhard as a second-rounder, the Pacers have hit on most of their transactions recently. The Pacers have a deep team full of players who are under good contracts. This is a combination of the front office landing the right guys at the right time and Rick Carlisle knowing how to get the best of them.
Though it may have been a pipe dream as recently as two years ago, the Pacers are in legitimate title contention and should be for the long haul. It remains to be seen whether the team can achieve their ultimate goal of bringing an NBA Championship to Indiana, but as it stands, they should have plenty of opportunities to do so, including this season. It also helps that the Pacers are in an Eastern Conference that is objectively inferior to the West.
This Pacers team has proved for the second consecutive year that they are special. Luckily for them, it seems like the front office is willing to let it ride for as long as possible, and given how young the team is, they should be in contention for a long time.