The Pacers need to improve quickly thanks to Knicks trade

The Pacers have been backed into a wall with the New York Knicks' recent acquisition of Mikal Bridges, and it may be time to make a move soon.

Before June 25, the Pacers seemed content with standing pat and running back mostly the same roster next season. With Pascal Siakam verbally agreeing to a new contract to keep him in Indiana for the next four years, along with potential extensions for backcourt studs Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell, Indiana seemed poised to build chemistry, figure out what they would do with Obi Toppin, and bring back the roster relatively unchanged for the 2024-25 season.

That may not be the ideal move now.

With the Knicks' recent acquisition of Mikal Bridges sending shockwaves through the East and the rest of the NBA, this means Indiana needs to be on the offensive. If New York gets Bridges, re-signs OG Anunoby, and retains most of their healthy roster next season, they have a serious shot at being the second-best team in the East, behind only the Celtics. This may have the effect of leaving the team they lost to in the recent playoffs in the dust.

The Pacers beat the Knicks in the 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinals thanks to hot shooting and a bevy of injuries to New York's rotation. Assuming the Bridges trade goes through and OG Anunoby stays with the team, this upcoming Knicks team will be far better than the team Indiana beat a month and a half ago. This is emphasized by the fact that New York only had to trade Bojan Bogdanovic, who did not play in the second round, to get the deal done, with the rest of the trade package being draft capital.

The Pacers made the Eastern Conference Finals, and that's a great achievement. A relatively young team with little to no playoff experience winning two playoff series is no small task. However, they cannot be complacent with this success. Indiana risks the possibility of falling out of the East's bigwigs if they do not improve their roster around the edges.

The Knicks are not the only East team looking to improve, as the Philadelphia 76ers have been strongly eyeing Paul George, the Celtics are not breaking up anytime soon, and the Bucks will certainly look for moves to get younger and more athletic. Add onto that the Heat possibly being aggressive, as well as Cleveland's returning core with a new coach, and you have a tough Eastern Conference for the 2024-25 season, the likes of which the Pacers need to match by improving.

Whether the improvements are an OG Anunoby sign-and-trade, which seems unlikely due to the Knicks being able to offer him more than any other team and Indiana's lack of cap space, a potential Paul George sign-and-trade, which Indiana may be wary of due to George's high price tag and age, or some moves for role players to improve their defense and rebounding, changes need to be made. There is no guarantee the Pacers can repeat their 2024 Cinderella run in a fully healthy and improving Eastern Conference, and they cannot be satisfied with the success they have already achieved.

The Pascal Siakam trade proved many things, but over anything, it proved the Pacers are looking to improve now and should not be complacent. Pascal Siakam is not getting any younger, and the other playoff contenders in the East are not getting any worse.

Teams are improving, and Indiana needs to follow suit or they will risk getting left behind in the dust, watching teams like the Celtics and Knicks enjoy success. This may be considered an overreaction to some, but in the NBA, you cannot afford to be too patient and expect teams to give you time to improve. The Pacers should treat this as a now-or-never situation. They have a good foundation, but other teams are getting better, and they must build on what they have.