NBA PREVIEW : IT’S COMING TOGETHER FOR THIS EXCITING PACERS
The Indiana Pacers rebuilt last season and played better than expected. They made some big improvements this offseason and their rotation is looking dangerous.
The Indiana Pacers were projected to be one of the worst teams at the start of the 2022-23 season. To a lot of people’s surprise, they were in play-in contention for the majority of the season and fell just short, finishing with a record of 35-47.
For a team that was supposed to be young and rebuilding, they had a very good season compared to their expectations. A few factors that led to this are their up-incoming star point guard, Tyrese Haliburton, electric rookie Benedict Mathurin, along with the veteran presence of Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.
The Pacers organization saw a new opportunity with their young star and realized if they made a couple of good moves they could get better and really challenge for the playoffs. The Pacers quietly had a very good offseason and added really good pieces that should put them in a position to compete for a playoff spot.
Now the team continues its rebuild around Haliburton. Indiana already added a key piece in the 2022 draft in Bennedict Mathurin, who averaged 16.7 points per game during his rookie year. They added another in this year’s lottery in forward Jarace Walker, who should make an immediate positive impact on the defensive end.
The Pacers also added a promising forward in Obi Toppin, a promising and exciting forward who got lost in the shuffle with the New York Knicks. Toppin has excelled when called upon to start, averaging 20.8 points and 5.7 rebounds in 15 games.
He joins a frontcourt that also includes another young prospect in Jalen Smith, the No. 10 pick in the 2020 draft. He averaged 9.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 18.8 minutes per game last year.
The future is more unclear for veterans Myles Turner and Buddy Hield. Both have excelled in Pacers uniforms, but both have often been the subject of trade rumors. Hield is also on an expiring contract, while Turner only has two years left on his deal.
Indiana went just 35-47 last year, finishing tied for 11th in the Eastern Conference. However, there’s a lot to like about this season’s team, and there’s reason to believe the Pacers will break their four-year stretch outside the playoffs.
STAR WATCH
TYRESE HALIBURTON
The Indiana Pacers have a long-term face of the franchise onboard after agreeing to a five-year, $260 million extension with All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton this offseason.
The Pacers acquired Tyrese Haliburton in a midseason trade in 2022 that could possibly change their franchise around. Haliburton had immediately broken through in his first 26 games with the Pacers. Then last season he had a career year averaging 20.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 10.4 assists and 1.6 steals, on 49/40/87 shooting splits.
Haliburton is one of the most talented young guards in the NBA. Standing at 6-foot-5 allows him to read the defense much easier and to use his incredible playing ability, and quickness for his size to gain an edge over his defender.
He is the perfect point guard to have in today’s NBA. He can score at all three levels very efficiently, he has become one of the best playmakers in the league, finishing second in assists per game, and he is a very solid defender.
The beauty of Haliburton’s game is his ability to make his teammates around him better. With some of their new acquisitions, Haliburton’s playmaking ability will make everyone on the court a threat and have one of his teammates be a great second option.
The Pacers went 28-28 with Haliburton last year and 7-19 without him as the star got sidelined with numerous injuries.
A healthy return and a full season should automatically make this team better, and that’s with the presumed improvement of players such as Mathurin and Smith and the additions of Walker and Toppin.
Turner and Hield should still be productive, with the former capable of Defensive Player of the Year honors and the latter dropping close to 20 points per night.
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