Let’s get this out of the way early: The Pacers aren’t going to win the NBA title this season. However, they are in a pretty good spot all things considered. They have a 22-year-old potential superstar in Tyrese Haliburton, a dynamic two-way prospect in Bennedict Mathurin and two legitimate trade assets in Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.
If you’re going into a rebuild, that’s not a bad place to start.
Trading Malcolm Brogdon was a sign that the team might be heading toward that direction, but there are still key decisions to be made, which we’ll get into later. Looking up and down the roster, the Pacers have the potential to be an entertaining league-pass darling — but probably one that won’t win many games.
Here’s a quick glance at Indiana’s offseason, and a preview of what things will look like when the 2022-23 season tips off in a few weeks.
Key changes
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Traded Malcolm Brogdon to the Celtics in exchange for a top-12 protected 2023 first-round draft pick, along with Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Juwan Morgan, Nik Stauskas and Malik Fitts (Morgan, Stauskas and Fitts were later waived).
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Selected Bennedict Mathurin with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2022 draft.
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Re-signed forward Jalen Smith on a three-year, $15.1 million deal.
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Drafted guard Kendall Brown with the No. 48 overall pick, then signed him to a two-way contract.
Roster
Top of the key: Choose a lane
If there’s one place you don’t want to be in the NBA, it’s in the middle. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Pacers have no shot at winning an NBA title this season, but — as currently constructed — they might have slightly too much talent to perform badly enough to be in the mix for the top pick in the draft. That can all change, of course, if Kevin Pritchard and the front office elect to trade away Turner and Hield, two pieces that have already garnered plenty of interest around the league. The Pacers seemed to dip a toe in the rebuild wading pool by trading Brogdon, and surrendering Turner and Hield for assets would finally signify a legitimate deep-end cannonball into the Victor Wembanyama/Scoot Henderson sweepstakes.
That being said, Indiana doesn’t necessarily need to rush things. Hield doesn’t exactly fit the timeline and it’s hard to imagine he’ll be on the team come March, but Turner is only 26 years old and it would be shortsighted to simply jettison him to try to lose a few more games this season. Pacers general manager Chad…
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