A few days ago, a news broke that the top 10 in the East have been determined, and 3 teams have been eliminated, including the Pacers. After making the playoffs nine times in the first 10 years, the Pacers are now entering a period of rebuilding, with most of the team's main players being young. And such a youth army brings a lot of uncertainty.
The Pacers are a youth army because the team currently has 11 players under three years of age and most of them are regular players. Four other players are not older than 7 years. George Hill, who played for 14 years, and James Johnson who played for 13 years are rare in the team. The team's average age is also low among NBA teams.
After a full season of exploration, coach Carlisle finally settled on a starting line-up: Haliburton and Nembuchad as the starting line-up at the back, Aaron Nesmith and Buddy Hield (Benedict Marcelin) on the front, and Miles Turner on the inside as the center. After nearly two years of poor results, the Pacers took the high pick, selecting Chris Duarte with the 13th pick last year, Marcelin this year with the 6th pick and Nembuchad with the 31st pick. Now both can be included in the rotation.
The Pacers and the King exchanged Halliburton and Sabonis Jr., and the two got their own way. Sabonis Jr. completed his transformation with the Kings, was named an All-Star for the third time this season, was named the Week of the Week three times, two of which were still in a row, and won the rebounding king this season, contributing a lot to the team's 16-year playoff dream. While Haliburton achieved a 20+10 feat with the Pacers this season and was also named an All-Star, the Pacers finally found a qualified backcourt commander.
After years of exploration, the walkers finally decided to keep Turner for their own use, at least in the short term. On the last day of January, he reached a two-year, $60 million contract extension without any player or team options. The twin towers formed by Sabonis Jr. and Turner were always deliberately dismantled, claiming that only one person could remain. Now the Pacers have sent Sabonis Jr. away and finally renewed his contract with Turner. Turner also returned the favor, averaging 18 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game this season, shooting 54.8% from the field and 37.3% from three-point range, a career-high in points, rebounds and total, and the second-highest three-point shooting percentage, playing the best season of his career.
With 114.4 points, the Pacers tied for 21st place. Averaging 89.7 shots per game, he ranks 10th in the league, but his shooting percentage (46.8%) is only 23rd in the league. He averaged 37.1 three-point shots, ranking 7th in the league and 14th in the league in three-point field goal percentage (36.5%). This can be seen in the Pacers' offensive rebounding (10.2) ranking 15th in the league. In addition, the Pacers rank 6th, 8th and 2nd in the league in assists, steals and blocks per game, respectively. Because they are ranked 8th in steals per game and frequently make opponent mistakes, the Pacers are averaging a considerable number of rounds per game (101, tied for 4th), which in turn affects the Pacers' shots.
Conversely, due to the increase in the number of rounds, the Pacers' defensive efficiency (117.6) is only the fifth lowest in the league. Their defense stands out for not being able to limit their opponents' shooting percentage. The team ranks seventh in the league in limiting opponents' shooting percentage (48.5%) and fifth from bottom in the league in limiting opponents' three-point shooting percentage (37.2%). Combined with the number of shots (89.1) that ranked only 19th in the league, the poor defense can be seen (ranked 6th from the bottom in the league in hits). They are also the league's team with the most offensive rebounds (12.1), while limiting assists, steals and blocks to the bottom 5.
On the offensive map, the Pacers are the league's team that adheres to the concept of "magic balling". They occupy 8th place in the league in 3-inch shots (27%) and 3-point shooting (41.3%), respectively. In contrast, their shot percentage in the middle range three regions is outside the league's top 20.
The Pacers have had several changes of coach recently. Vogel took the helm in 2010-11 and led the team to the playoffs at the beginning of his tenure, and then led the team to four playoff appearances in five years. McMillan coached for four seasons and made the playoffs four times, but because he was out of the first round each time, he still stepped down and bowed. The Pacers broke up with McMillan on the grounds that he couldn't lead the team to play small-ball tactics, and then brought in Björkgren, who defended Curry in the Finals, and parted ways with him only one season later. It happened that the Lone Ranger intended to break up with meritorious coach Carlisle, so he ate back to the grass.
It's unclear what Carlisle's coaching prospects are, the Pacers may still be on the road to building talent, and the draft is still their most tangible goal. Perhaps, they will be able to appear on the playoff stage next season; Perhaps, they will have to wait a long time. (Hairy Daddy/Supine Push-ups)