After surprising the Eastern Conference last season, the Indiana Pacers could be the best kept secret after getting even better this offseason
Last summer, the Indiana Pacers stunned the rest of the NBA when they traded Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder. But perhaps the most surprising part of the last 12 months in regards to the Pacers came when they nearly upset the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
In fact, this past season, the Pacers won more games with Paul George since their run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2013-14. Victor Oladipo grew into an all-star, which he had not been during his first two stops in Orlando and Oklahoma City, and Bojan Bogdanovic emerged as a real weapon and the team’s second-leading scorer.
Myles Turner continued to flash at times and grew into the team’s true third option on the block. He was still a menace on the defensive end and nearly averaged two blocks per contest.
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Based on simple progression alone, that young core of the Pacers is expected to be better this season. Plus, another season playing together should help too. But the Pacers also managed to get better this season.
This summer, Indiana added two interesting weapon – Tyreke Evans and Doug McDermott.
You probably remember the first name, because he won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year back in his time (2009). But last season, he had a huge resurgence with the Memphis Grizzlies in which he averaged 19 points, five assists and five rebounds per game.
He’s an extremely valuable player in the modern NBA, and can play the positions 1-4 if you’re feeling experimental. He’s going to be a dangerous weapon for Nate McMillan this season.
But McDermott is almost equally as interesting as a player. Even though he struggles on the defensive end, McDermott can go off on the offensive end at any given moment. He shot an impressive 43 percent from 3-point range last season with the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks, and is always useful because of that skill.
But he’s also shown the ability to score in non-spot up situations too.
The additions of McDermott and Evans will certainly help this team moving forward, and could help catapult this team into the conversation for being a dark horse to make the Eastern Conference Finals.
Especially if Victor Oladipo continues to get better, don’t sleep on the Indiana Pacers this season.