Pacers off-season

I like the moves especially in the draft. Turner is a much more verstaile offensive and defensive player than Hibbert. Joe Young is a scoring maching who can learn from Monta and will be brought along slowly because they are pretty set at the guard spots. Once he starts getting more minutes though he will be a guy people will regret passing on at the end of the first round for sure.

Monta was a good value compared to what some other players are getting this offseason. He is a reliable scorer who will help take some of the offensive burden off of Paul George. They aren’t too deep inside but that can be said about most teams in the East outside of Chicago, Atlanta and Cleveland.

If they play more uptempo like they say they will be a pretty fun team to watch. I would be pretty surprised if they didn’t make the playoffs since they finished with the same record as the Nets last year who were the 8 seed and that was without Paul George even playing 100 minutes on the season. I see them as a 7th or 8th seed this year and probably winning around 42 games….I don’t think 38 will get you into the playoffs this year in the East.

I like the moves especially in the draft. Turner is a much more verstaile offensive and defensive player than Hibbert. Joe Young is a scoring maching who can learn from Monta and will be brought along slowly because they are pretty set at the guard spots. Once he starts getting more minutes though he will be a guy people will regret passing on at the end of the first round for sure.

Monta was a good value compared to what some other players are getting this offseason. He is a reliable scorer who will help take some of the offensive burden off of Paul George. They aren’t too deep inside but that can be said about most teams in the East outside of Chicago, Atlanta and Cleveland.

If they play more uptempo like they say they will be a pretty fun team to watch. I would be pretty surprised if they didn’t make the playoffs since they finished with the same record as the Nets last year who were the 8 seed and that was without Paul George even playing 100 minutes on the season. I see them as a 7th or 8th seed this year and probably winning around 42 games….I don’t think 38 will get you into the playoffs this year in the East.

They had a nice off-season. From what I saw of Turner in college, he looks like he has some real potential. I see a guy like him playing under Rick Barnes and I figure he is probably even better than what we did it. Having Hill and Mahini should help ease him into the league, but with his shot blocking he can make an impact in games even if it’s not in a lot of minutes. I know nothing about young, but I like all the moves so far. The contracts all seem to be reasonable and they got solid players. They are a playoff team this year and without looking at the numbers I would think that they are in really good shape once the cap blows up. While some teams were giving role players16-20 million deals, they were signing guys that are going to contribute for much less.

Off the top of my head it should be Cavs, Heat, Bulls in some order. Then I’m thinking Bucks or Hawks. Wouldn’t be surprised if Indiana is next. So 6th as long as PG is healthy.

They had a nice off-season. From what I saw of Turner in college, he looks like he has some real potential. I see a guy like him playing under Rick Barnes and I figure he is probably even better than what we did it. Having Hill and Mahini should help ease him into the league, but with his shot blocking he can make an impact in games even if it’s not in a lot of minutes. I know nothing about young, but I like all the moves so far. The contracts all seem to be reasonable and they got solid players. They are a playoff team this year and without looking at the numbers I would think that they are in really good shape once the cap blows up. While some teams were giving role players16-20 million deals, they were signing guys that are going to contribute for much less.

Off the top of my head it should be Cavs, Heat, Bulls in some order. Then I’m thinking Bucks or Hawks. Wouldn’t be surprised if Indiana is next. So 6th as long as PG is healthy.

I actually don’t see them as a playoff team at all given how the roster looks right now. They just lost too many reliable rotation players to me. 

For as much criticism as Roy Hibbert gets, he still holds down the fort on the defensive end, which is the reason why the Pacers almost snuck into the playoffs last season. If your expectations are a championship, I get the criticism that Roy Hibbert got in those 2014 NBA Playoffs, where he disappeared on the offensive and spacing took him out defensively, but if you’re talking about getting into the playoffs with how the roster is currently constructed, I thought that was a significant loss. Also, it’s always hard in this league to rely on rookies. They can surely contribute and add on to winning but relying on them to be the main facet on offense and especially defense is a rarified thing. I think Myles Turner is a good add for the team and will be relatively fine for a rookie on offense but he’ll have his rookie moments on defense to me. He’s killing it in Orlando Summer League right now but on defense he’s alright but very foul-prone and come November, the limit drops to six. 

And then other losses like David West specifically but also, C.J. Watson who provided space and Luis Scola, you just lose steady, veteran basketball players who know how to play. Like Lavoy Allen is good as a fourth big but he’s not going to replace West’s production and Jordan Hill can provide some defense and rebounding but ask the Lakers defense last season how good it was. Then Ian Mahinmi gives them a body, Solomon Hill wasn’t neccessarily good last year but can provide some scoring punch and jack-of-all-trades wing talent, Stuckey will score off the bench.

 Now, I’ve always said the difference between Ellis in Dallas and Golden State/Milwaukee wasn’t much, except that they managed to maximize his talents due to the players around him like Dirk Nowitzki, who provided spacing for pick-and-pop, Tyson Chandler and Brennan Wright, who provided a pick-and-roll threats, offensive rebounding and good defense to cover up Ellis’ liabilities, and Harris, Calderon, Carter and Parsons, provided the spot-up shooting to surround him and I don’t think the Pacers have enough shooters like that to surround him with George and Hill being just below elite shooters like Parsons and Nowitzki.

So with that I think probably come mid-to-late December, they’ll realize that they might have to re-assess their season (I see them winning in the low 30s) and I actually think it’s a good thing to rebuild. George is a free agent in 2018, which is closer than you think and as a fan of a small market team in Minnesota, things have to look right before you enter free agency and you can’t waste draft year opportunities. And the earlier the better, so the drafted player will be more NBA ready once George enters free agency. Turner is a good start. Play him big minutes and he’ll have his highs and lows but add on to it.  

I actually don’t see them as a playoff team at all given how the roster looks right now. They just lost too many reliable rotation players to me. 

For as much criticism as Roy Hibbert gets, he still holds down the fort on the defensive end, which is the reason why the Pacers almost snuck into the playoffs last season. If your expectations are a championship, I get the criticism that Roy Hibbert got in those 2014 NBA Playoffs, where he disappeared on the offensive and spacing took him out defensively, but if you’re talking about getting into the playoffs with how the roster is currently constructed, I thought that was a significant loss. Also, it’s always hard in this league to rely on rookies. They can surely contribute and add on to winning but relying on them to be the main facet on offense and especially defense is a rarified thing. I think Myles Turner is a good add for the team and will be relatively fine for a rookie on offense but he’ll have his rookie moments on defense to me. He’s killing it in Orlando Summer League right now but on defense he’s alright but very foul-prone and come November, the limit drops to six. 

And then other losses like David West specifically but also, C.J. Watson who provided space and Luis Scola, you just lose steady, veteran basketball players who know how to play. Like Lavoy Allen is good as a fourth big but he’s not going to replace West’s production and Jordan Hill can provide some defense and rebounding but ask the Lakers defense last season how good it was. Then Ian Mahinmi gives them a body, Solomon Hill wasn’t neccessarily good last year but can provide some scoring punch and jack-of-all-trades wing talent, Stuckey will score off the bench.

 Now, I’ve always said the difference between Ellis in Dallas and Golden State/Milwaukee wasn’t much, except that they managed to maximize his talents due to the players around him like Dirk Nowitzki, who provided spacing for pick-and-pop, Tyson Chandler and Brennan Wright, who provided a pick-and-roll threats, offensive rebounding and good defense to cover up Ellis’ liabilities, and Harris, Calderon, Carter and Parsons, provided the spot-up shooting to surround him and I don’t think the Pacers have enough shooters like that to surround him with George and Hill being just below elite shooters like Parsons and Nowitzki.

So with that I think probably come mid-to-late December, they’ll realize that they might have to re-assess their season (I see them winning in the low 30s) and I actually think it’s a good thing to rebuild. George is a free agent in 2018, which is closer than you think and as a fan of a small market team in Minnesota, things have to look right before you enter free agency and you can’t waste draft year opportunities. And the earlier the better, so the drafted player will be more NBA ready once George enters free agency. Turner is a good start. Play him big minutes and he’ll have his highs and lows but add on to it.  

I really don’t think this team will make the playoffs…The EAST is improved…

I really don’t think this team will make the playoffs…The EAST is improved…

I really like what Indiana has done and am excited to see where we head this season as well as the future with George/Turner combo.

I assume the roster will look as follows
C. Mahinmi/Turner/Whittington
PF. Hill/Allen/Rudez
SF. George/Miles/Hill
SG. Ellis/Stuckey
PG. Hill/Young

I think G.Hill (man there is going to be 3) and Ellis will always be on the court to play PG for Indy and George will be playing some 4-man. We could still do with a legit back up PG, but I love this roster.

I know Turner is only a rookie, but Hill, Allen and Mahinmi all complement what he can do by being hustle guys who offensively rebound, allowing Turner to be away from the hoop and use his face-up game. I don’t know if Bird has done it on purpose thinking this rookie will be a huge part of the season or that is just the guys he wanted, I think it is a nice set up and Turner may be starting come All-Star break.

I really like what Indiana has done and am excited to see where we head this season as well as the future with George/Turner combo.

I assume the roster will look as follows
C. Mahinmi/Turner/Whittington
PF. Hill/Allen/Rudez
SF. George/Miles/Hill
SG. Ellis/Stuckey
PG. Hill/Young

I think G.Hill (man there is going to be 3) and Ellis will always be on the court to play PG for Indy and George will be playing some 4-man. We could still do with a legit back up PG, but I love this roster.

I know Turner is only a rookie, but Hill, Allen and Mahinmi all complement what he can do by being hustle guys who offensively rebound, allowing Turner to be away from the hoop and use his face-up game. I don’t know if Bird has done it on purpose thinking this rookie will be a huge part of the season or that is just the guys he wanted, I think it is a nice set up and Turner may be starting come All-Star break.

 I don’t know if they’ll make the Playoffs,but I think we all forget that Paul George might be the second best player in the conference after you-know-who. I just have hard time picturing the East,I see every team except pHiladelphia,if everything goes right,being able to make a run,from Detroit to Orlando to Charlotte…. I think Indiana’s frontcourt is really thin right now(even if I’d be so happy to see fellow frenchman Ian Mahinmi get the starting job).

 I don’t know if they’ll make the Playoffs,but I think we all forget that Paul George might be the second best player in the conference after you-know-who. I just have hard time picturing the East,I see every team except pHiladelphia,if everything goes right,being able to make a run,from Detroit to Orlando to Charlotte…. I think Indiana’s frontcourt is really thin right now(even if I’d be so happy to see fellow frenchman Ian Mahinmi get the starting job).

After battling the Heat for supremacy in the East and coming up short, Larry Bird obviously thought it was time for a change. With a healthy PG, you’ll always have a chance. The Hibbert divorce was a win in my opinion because a change of scenery and different direction was needed for both sides. I have honestly not seen Myles Turner play one second but from what my fellow posters have said, he seems like a good bet to be a solid NBA player. Monta Ellis is a decent pick-up and brings offensive firepower. I see the Pacers battling for 7/8 seed on the East next season.

After battling the Heat for supremacy in the East and coming up short, Larry Bird obviously thought it was time for a change. With a healthy PG, you’ll always have a chance. The Hibbert divorce was a win in my opinion because a change of scenery and different direction was needed for both sides. I have honestly not seen Myles Turner play one second but from what my fellow posters have said, he seems like a good bet to be a solid NBA player. Monta Ellis is a decent pick-up and brings offensive firepower. I see the Pacers battling for 7/8 seed on the East next season.