Via Cover The Spread 365
Key Players: Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner, Tyreke Evans, Bojan Bogdanović
Fun Fact: Last year's '31in30' series ended at the hands of the Indiana Pacers. After shipping Paul George to Oklahoma City for then virtually nothing made writing about the Pacers feel insurmountable. Little did I know, that team would end up having the season's Most Improved Player lead them to within one game of dethroning LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. The same mistake will not be made again.
Vocabulary.com defines a 'sleeper' as something that succeeds when no one thought it would. The Indiana Pacers are this year's NBA sleeper. More on that later.
Following a season of exceeded expectations, Indiana had an uncharacteristically aggressive offseason, signing one of last season's best talents off-the-bench in Tyreke Evans, a career 45 percent three-point shooter in Doug McDermott, and filling the team's need for a rebounding bruiser in Kyle O'Quinn.
Along with signing notable free agents, the Pacers managed to convince starters Darren Collinson and Thaddeus Young to pick up their player options. Sticking to the theme of sleepers, Indiana drafted UCLA guard Aaron Holiday with the 23rd overall pick. The only major subtraction of last year's team of underdogs came at the hands of Pacers president Kevin Pritchard deciding to let Lance Stephenson walk in free agency.
Head coach Nate McMillan received a multi-year extension after finishing sixth in last season's Coach of the Year voting.
Indiana's Best Case Scenario
Via 8 points 9 seconds
Warning: This next statement may cause the urge to "mmcht" and close this article. Please hear the information provided after the statement before the closing of the article. Also, remember this is a best-case scenario.
Don't be surprised if the Indiana Pacers represent the Eastern Conference in this year's NBA Finals. Indiana split last season's series with the Boston Celtics, 2-2, with neither game being decided by double-digits. The Pacers bested the other Eastern conference favorite, the Philadelphia 76ers, 2-1 in last year's regular season matchups. Had it not been for a lack of bench scoring and a historic game seven performance from LeBron James, Indiana could have found itself representing the East last year. James is out west now, and Tyreke Evans' 19/5/5 line of production should end any of the bench struggles Indiana faces.
Perhaps due to the dominance of LeBron James, the East feels like the best player will carry his team to the finals. While names like Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Kyrie Irving lead the debate, the Pacers have their own dark horse in the race.
Indiana's alpha comes in the form of a 6'4 Victor Oladipo. The former second overall pick lived up to his billing and then some last season, being honored with his first All-Star selection and being named to the NBA's All-Defensive First Team and Third Team All-NBA while taking home the honors of being named the season's Most Improved Player.
If the honors didn't prove his stardom in the NBA, his stats from last season surely will.
Oladipo finished top-20 in points per game (23.1,10th), steals per game (2.4,1st), player efficiency rating (23.1,17th), and defensive win shares (4.0,8th). The face of Indiana's franchise is a bonafide star on both sides of the ball and can lead the franchise as far as they're willing to venture.
Domantis Sabonis averaged 11.6 points and 7.7 rebounds on 51 percent shooting in his second year in the league. Bojan Bogdanović plays the role of whispering whatever Indiana needs points-wise into that night's box score. Darren Collinson was last season's most efficient three-point shooter (47 percent) and finished with a higher offensive rating (126.0) than Chris Paul (125.9) and Stephen Curry (124.6). However, none of these key contributors will be the one to help Victor Oladipo lead the team to uncharted waters.
That responsibility falls on the broad shoulders of fourth-year bigman Myles Turner. After a stellar 14.5 points and 7.3 rebounds on 51 percent shooting a night in his second year in the league, Turner regressed in each category(12.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 47 percent shooting) in what should have been a breakout season. Now entering a contract year, the pressure is on the former Texas star to deliver. From his ability to bang down low and the soft touch on his jumpshot, Turner has the potential to be a top-five center in the Eastern Conference.
If Turner lives up to this potential while the rest of the roster recreates their production of last season, the Pacers could find themselves in the NBA Finals for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
Indiana's Worst Case Scenario
Via DeadSpin
The thing about a magical season is that it could be just that--a magical season. There's no guarantee that a repeat of last season's exceeded expectations will occur again.
Following last summer's trade of former franchise face Paul George, Indiana had accepted its seat on the long road to a rebuild; then, through a number of quick developments, the Pacers find themselves drifting towards the path of contention a year later. Such a quick turnaround seems like a blessing but look no further than the Phoenix Suns for a cautionary tale otherwise.
In the midst of their rebuild following the Steve Nash-era, the Suns managed to win 48 games and come close to a playoff berth. Rather than sticking to their plan of a full rebuild, Phoenix made minor tweaks to their roster to try and get that extra push into the playoffs. Now eight years since Nash's departure, the Suns find themselves still rebuilding coming off its worst season since the team's forming in 1968.
Indiana's accelerated rebuild seems to have them in a good position, but so Phoenix held the same position just three years ago.
Record Prediction: 50-32, The Pacers are the real deal.