Pacers should focus on this title window (and fans won't be happy)

For the first time in a long time, Indiana Pacers fans have high expectations for their team. Last season, the Pacers finished as the second-best offensive team in the NBA behind the eventual champions, the Boston Celtics. Additionally, their 47-35 record was their best since the 2018-19 season, and they are fresh off their first conference finals appearance since 2014.

Led by their star duo of Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, the Pacers are inching ever so close to legitimate title contention. They are a young team with a great roster, and they should only continue to improve over time.

In addition to Haliburton and Siakam, the Pacers have a lot of other players helping them contribute immediately. This includes long-time center Myles Turner, breakout star Andrew Nembhard, as well as solid role players like Obi Toppin, T.J. McConnell, Aaron Nesmith, and Bennedict Mathurin, just to name a few.

The Pacers are in a great position to compete for a title now and for the long run. While a championship is now on everybody's minds in Indiana, it may be important for fans to temper their expectations and come back to reality.

Though the Pacers should sit firmly in the playoff picture for the foreseeable future, a championship right now is unlikely. In fact, the Pacers' true championship window is still just a few years away.

The Indiana Pacers should become legitimate title contenders in the next 2-3 years

By no means are the Pacers not a great team entering the 2024-25 season. They are an elite offensive team and have the tools to be dangerous on the defensive side of the ball as well. However, in addition to their youth and not having hit their peak as a team yet, the competition in the rest of the conference is too intense for the time being.

The Celtics, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia 76ers, at least on paper, are all better championship contenders than the Pacers right now. Additionally, teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic, and Cleveland Cavaliers are all teams that could have a better record than the Pacers next season.

However, in a few years, the entire Eastern Conference landscape should change.

The Celtics will be too expensive and could make some major moves within the next few years, the 76ers will have a 36-year-old Paul George and a 32-year-old Joel Embiid in two years, and the Bucks will have a significantly older team that will likely be without Brook Lopez and potentially Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard in a few seasons.

While most of the other Eastern Conference teams currently ahead of them have likely hit their peak, the Pacers are only going to get better in that time.