The defending champion Celtics have been on a spending spree, re-signing their own free agents and locking up rotation players to lucrative extensions.
The Sixers made the biggest free agent splash, signing Paul George. The Knicks made a stunning trade, acquiring Mikal Bridges from their crosstown rival. The Cavaliers have given out extensions to three starters. The Bucks still have the duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
So it’s easy to forget that the Pacers were in the Eastern Conference Finals. Their biggest star is Tyrese Haliburton, currently the 12th man on Team USA’s loaded roster. Haliburton pulled a hamstring in Game 2 against the Celtics, though the Pacers were heavy underdogs anyway. But it may have made the series a little more competitive if he had stayed healthy.
Haliburton had some ups and downs during the playoffs but delivered in a big way in his best outings. Now, he’s wondering why the Pacers are being overlooked as one of the top contenders in the East.
“All I keep seeing is, ‘Who’s going to win the East? Boston, Milwaukee, New York, or Philly?’” Haliburton said recently. “It’s like, what are we doing [not being included]? But again, we’re Indiana, people didn’t even know, people didn’t even watch us play until the playoffs. People didn’t watch us play until the second round. But again, that respect comes with winning. So if we want to gain that respect, we just got to keep having success as a team. And it’s coming.”
Like Boston and Cleveland, the Pacers’ offseason has been highlighted by locking in some of their regulars to new contracts. Pascal Siakam received a max four-year deal in free agency and Andrew Nembhard, who posted big numbers in Games 3 and 4 of the conference finals with Haliburton out, signed a three-year contract extension. Siakam’s backup, restricted free agent Obi Toppin, was also re-signed.
Myles Turner remains one of the most productive centers in the league and the Pacers also have a solid young 1-2 punch at small forward in Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin. Head coach Rick Carlisle is one of the best in the business, a future Hall of Famer with a championship on his resume.
Undeniably, there’s plenty of quality pieces all over the roster. But are they still lacking that one major impact player to put them over the top? Haliburton could be a perennial All-Star but is he more suited to being the No. 2 player on a championship team than the franchise player?
Those are a couple of questions some experts have about the Pacers, though there’s no reason to expect that they’ll regress. In fact, with the experience they gained in the postseason, they could be even more dangerous next season.
That brings up to today’s topic: Do you feel the Pacers are underrated? Where do they currently rank in the Eastern Conference’s pecking order? Do they need another impact player or can they win a championship with the roster they’ve already built?
Please take to the comments section to weigh on this topic. We look forward to your input.
I think it’s worth running it back and seeing if any of Mathurin, Nembhard, Nesmith, and/or Shepperd take a leap. They could potentially become a championship team without making a trade that improves their floor and ceiling but also shortens their window.
It’s easy to forget they were in the finals for a reason. Celtics Knicks, Bucks, Cavs, and Philly are all far better.
This exactly, except I think the Cavs are pretty much equal, maybe a slight edge and Orlando is knocking on the door.
Agree, add Miami with Orlando. The east is strong top end its the wizards and pistons dragging the east down overall.
Cavs are better than the Pacers. The Pacers don’t have the defense to hang with healthy teams. The Cavs, even with their backcourt playing hurt and lacking their best rim protector, made the Celtics work in four of five games in the East semis and stole a win on the road. The Pacers couldn’t handle the Celtics at all late in games, lost each of those games in the fourth quarter, either having to remove Haliburton because he’d be targeted on defense or leaving him in and having that exact thing happen. They have to figure out that weakness if they want to seriously contend.
What they lack in top line talent, they make up with depth. Add in a full training camp/season for Siakam and Haliburton, plus the additions of Mathurin and Walker to essentially the same ECF roster, plus the Nembhard & Toppin contracts giving them the chance for a consolidation trade of 20 different combinations of assets…no reason to think this team isn’t the third best team in the conference behind Boston and NY. Can’t put Philly there until PG and Embiid earn it.
Definitely not underrated. On paper 5th to 8th best team in the east. They do have high end talent, they have depth and are well coached but if you laid me 100-1 odd of them making the ECF again I would not take it.
I don’t think they’re underrated per say, just that its tough what to make of the Pacers run considering all the injury luck they had the first two rounds (all the teams in the East had some luck though, the Pacers and Celtics were just the two to be fortunate enough to capitalize on it).
They’re definitely below the Celtics and Knicks. If Embiid and Giannis stay healthy, then the 76ers and Bucks should also finish ahead of them. So they’re probably fighting for the 5-10 spots with Cleveland, Orlando, Miami, and Toronto which is a fair ranking imo. If they can keep their high flying offense and get their defense to respectable/average levels then they could definitely contend with the top teams, but that defense HAS to be fixed up for any chance to be a serious contender.
I don’t think they necessarily need to go out and get another impact player. If either of Nembhard or Mathurin can take that next step and be a steady #3 option then this team has enough to at least be the type of team that no body wants to face in the playoffs even though they might not be true title contenders. Siakim is a good #2 option with the championship and veteran experience to steal a couple of wins. Even if Haliburton is not a true #1, he is the type of player who raises the ceiling of those around him which is perfect for this team. What they lack in starpower they make up for with depth and mostly filling the roster with young, athletic players who want to run and shoot.
Boston made their own luck man. Forgotten is Kristaps played very little in the playoffs. Those narratives didn’t apply on ESPN to the Lakers in the bubble or Steph tearing back up PGs a new one round 1, 2, conference finals and lastly the great Delly in the finals. Was nothing but love. The Bubble title was all of a sudden the hardest title ever won and the conversation was is Steph the best point guard ever. Those Rich Paul guys on ESPN really do look after their own.
Boston’s the team to beat, they’re the champs. After that though I thinks it’s pretty close between New York, Cleveland, Philly, Milwaukee, Orlando and Indiana. As of right now I really don’t see a compelling reason to believe any of those teams are better than the other.
IND, just based on the early lines for seasonal Over/Under win totals, is being underrated. They have talent on all levels and an identity that can leverage it to win games. They play a different style than the other teams in the East, and can be a tough matchup on that basis, particularly during the regular season.
The contender/playoff question is different, and runs along the same lines as it does for most winning teams; specifically, the NBA likes it’s champions to have not just a high level of aggregate talent, but at least one name superstar (a top 5-10 player in the sport, who was known and marketed as such coming into the season). IND, like most winning teams, doesn’t have that. Still, the opportunity for internal improvement, year over year, is there. Starts with Siakam being with the group for a full season.