The Indiana Pacers were just outside the Play-In picture in the East a year ago, but that was still a strong season for a team many had pegged as a potential tank candidate entering the year. Tyrese Haliburton emerged as an All-Star, Myles Turner continues to fight off trade rumors and inked a new extension in Indy, and they have a number of intriguing young players, headlined by All-Rookie selections Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard.
This is a team that hopes to enter that Play-In conversation in the East this year, as they set out to use their cap space to lure some veteran help to a young squad take that step forward. There is clearly no plan for a lengthy rebuild in Indiana, as they’d like to get back into the playoff hunt sooner than later, believing they have their young star of the future in Haliburton and are now setting off on working to surround him with the complementary talent needed to get back to where they spent years as a mid-seed in the East.
Here we’ll grade Indiana’s offseason work from the Draft, free agency and contract extensions, and the trade market to accomplish that goal this summer.
Draft: B
With two first round picks, the Pacers were able to attack two areas of need on their roster by attempting to add more defense and more shooting. After moving down one spot from No. 7 to No. 8 in a deal with Washington that netted them two future seconds, the Pacers selected Jarace Walker out of Houston, adding one of the top defensive prospects in the draft in the form of a big, physical forward with versatility on that end. At No. 26, they took a swing on a fast riser in Ben Sheppard out of Belmont, who is a terrific shooter. Our Brad Rowland gave the Pacers a B+ for Walker and a B- for Sheppard on Draft night, explaining his grades as follows.
Indiana was able to extract extra capital from Washington and still got the player they likely would have taken at No. 7. Walker isn’t a terribly sexy prospect offensively, but he is a very strong passer for his size with an emerging skill level that brings on intrigue. His primary appeal is defense, with an NBA-ready physical strength and feel to defend multiple positions, which is one of the Pacers biggest needs.
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What a rise for Ben Sheppard. He was almost entirely off the mainstream radar during the season, but the upperclassman from Belmont brings a dynamic overall skill set. He is a modern player with his shooting and movement skills.
Free Agency/Contract Extensions: A-
The Pacers made two big moves once the league year opened, with the first being the signing of Bruce Brown, swiping arguably the hottest commodity on the free agent market with a 2-year, $45 million deal (with a team option for the second year). Brown, coming off of a season where he was a key cog in the Nuggets championship run, cashed in on his popularity as the most sought after mid-level talent and got a deal worth nearly double the mid-level in Indiana, who were willing to pay the tax all rebuilding teams must to add well-respected veterans to their roster. While it’s certainly more money than most anticipated Brown getting, I think it’s a good short-term deal from the Pacers to ahnd out, not all that different from when the Sixers gave JJ Redick a similar two-year deal when they were trying to break free from the lean years of The Process and take a step forward. For a team desperate to find some floor balance between a high-octane offense and a rather woeful defense, Brown is an ideal addition. They have a great rim protector in Myles Turner, but had little in the way of perimeter defense or versatility, and get that in Brown. If it works, they’ll have him for two years and if for some reason they take a step back, they can move him or flat out release him next year.
The other move was giving Tyrese Haliburton a 5-year, $207 million max extension, which brings some sticker shock but for a young guard that averaged a 20/10 double-double, shot 40 percent from three, and became a first-time All-Star last year, it’s a very solid deal. Haliburton is the guy the Pacers want to build around and he seems thrilled to be there. Now the task is to build something great around him, but they’re already making those efforts
Trades: B+
Aside from the shuffle down on Draft night, the Pacers have only made one other trade this offseason but I think it was a very solid deal to take a swing on Obi Toppin, flipping two second round picks to New York to land the former lottery pick. Toppin has had ups and downs in New York and wasn’t a particularly good fit for how the Knicks play, in large part due to his scratchy shooting from three-point range (although he posted a career-best 34.9 percent from deep a year ago). In Indiana, he figures to be in an ideal fit with a team that likes to get up and down the floor and run in a way the Knicks don’t, and his athleticism in the frontcourt will be a welcome boost to the Pacers rotation. There’s little downside to the move from Indiana, as they’ll get a year to figure out what Toppin could be for them before he hits restricted free agency while only moving a pair of future seconds (making this summer a net neutral in terms of future picks acquired and traded). Toppin isn’t a massive addition that makes them a playoff contender suddenly, but he’s the type of player a team like Indiana should be taking a swing on and there’s a chance he pops with the Pacers in a way he didn’t in New York simply because of the difference in how the two teams play.
Overall, this felt like a very good summer for the Pacers, albeit this is the time where it’s easy to have positive feelings about moves. There’s little in the way of expectations and they pretty clearly made their roster better. The question, of course, is how much better they are compared to the rest of the East and how far they can climb the standings. Once that’s answered, the far more difficult task begins of how to take the next leap, where there’s far more competition.