Former Pacers player could ruin team's chances of winning an NBA title

The Indiana Pacers should be considered one of the favorites to come out of the East next year. Even if fans of other teams don't want to believe that, they're still a great team. The Eastern Conference Finals fun was not a fluke and it seems like they are running it back with who they have.

After deciding to bring back Obi Toppin, the Pacers are likely going to keep most of their team intact. That doesn't mean that teams around them in the East aren't making moves though. One former Pacers player could end up making life hard for them though.

Paul George decided to opt out of his contract and become a free agent. He will not be returning to the Clippers and now he's decided that he will come back to play for the East. He will be playing with the Philadelphia 76ers after signing a max deal with them.

Former Pacers player Paul George will sign with the 76ers and ruin things for Indiana

Philadelphia is now one of the teams that had the cap space to sign him. In fact, according to a report, they were the favorites to sign him the whole time. Philly becomes a lot more dangerous than they were last year. They could have three potential All-Stars on their team.

Indiana knows that they have to be better than they were last year if they want to make the Finals. They have a young team that should be able to grow together and get better. Now that George has in fact gone back to the Eastern Conference, that becomes even more imperative.

The Pacers still have some trade chips they can use if they want to significantly improve the team this offseason. Kevin Pritchard has been known to pull off some big trades. Perhaps he will pull off another one this offseason that comes out of nowhere.