Indiana Offseason ReviewHartfordWhalers wrote:HartfordWhalers Review
Key Losses:
Frank Vogel
George Hill
Ian Mahinmi
Solo Hill
That is a lot more losses than I would have expected to see in a tea that didn't have a disaster of an offseason. If you cross Hill off figuring Teague nets it out, there still is the coaching change and Mahinmi and Hill as loses. Thad and Al Jefferson are the corresponding talents coming in, so maybe it is a wash but it feels less stellar than expected. Its been covered before and again, but I'm not sold on the coaching change.
Losses:
Jordan Hill
Chase Budinger
Ty Lawson
Shayne Whittington
Jordan Hill is a totally serviceable guy. It might be the case that Solomon Hill is just the same, and they should be in the same categories. I think that is definitely possible. The Ty Lawson experiment ended uneventful and bad.
Draft:
#50 Georges Niang
A guy already 23 isn't what I would do at 50. At 50 you might as well get someone who might grow into something more than this, or more likely never pan out. Maybe I will eat these words, but Niang feels like someone without the upside to make his selection worthwhile.
Trades:
George Hill for Jeff Teague (3-way trade with ATL and UTA)
#20 pick for Thad Young (BRK)
Rights to Stanko Barac for Jeremy Evans and $3.2m cash (DAL)
I have no idea how Indiana got so much money from Dallas. That was amazing. Low key amazing. But amazing. If it weren't for Charlotte giving up a 1st to take Beli, this would have been the lopsided trade of the offseason.
Thad for 20 fits value wise, although at #20 I would have nibbled on a raw draftpick (Skal, Korkmaz, Murray, Davis). But Thad is a great fit with what Indiana is trying to force its team to be.
I like Teague for Hill for Indiana. But Indiana seems weirdly geared towards the next 2 years with this offense only players in their prime or on the back end of it, and that feels like a team that won;t get into an Eastern Conference Finals before anything happens. Maybe Turner can bust out further, and remind people that Indy got Paul George without a top 5 pick. Atlanta is retooling on the fly and handing the reigns over to a young pg. Somewhere on their roster I needed to see more of that from Indy, and I didn't enough that I wonder what happens next?
Free Agency:
Nate McMillan
Al Jefferson 3/$30m (last year partially gtd)
Aaron Brooks 1/$2.7m
Kevin Seraphin 2/$3.6m (last year TO)
Georges Niang 3/$2.6m (2nd and 3rd year partially gtd)
Julyan Stone and Alex Poythress to 1 year (mostly?) non gtd
Seraphin is a nice signing at this juncture in the game. Brooks at that money is great. Al Jefferson fits a positional need, but stylistically is a horrible fit. Same with Nate McMillan. I cannot fathom a team trying to go uptempo hiring McMillan and getting Al Jefferson as their big free agent. Why is the left hand not communicating with the right hand here? I keep feeling like Indy is self sabotaging, and this offseason doesn't change that.
Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Jeff Teague, Aaron Brooks, Julyan Stone
SG: Monta Ellis, Rodney Stuckey, Joseph Young
SF: Paul George, C.J. Miles, Glenn Robinson III, Georges Niang
PF: Thaddeus Young, Lavoy Allen, Jeremy Evans. Alex Poythress
C: Myles Turner, Al Jefferson, Kevin Seraphin, Rakeem Christmas
I switched Miles Turner to starting, because it just needed to happen.
Needs:
A more coherent plan to surround Paul George with talent and a winning blueprint before we end up saying his prime was wasted. Production from SG; if Ellis and Stuckey don't look like a position of glaring weakness, then this team looks a lot more settled.
Additional Thoughts:
Paul George only has 2 more years left. When can we flip out over a Paul George watch? If Indy finishes the season as a ~40 win team, has little options for offseason improvement besides a pick around 15 and internal improvement, how loud will the Paul George trade buzz get? How much will we be hearing that he is only expiring, so why not just sign him in a year? The new CBA better have something better than the 5th year and 7.5% versus 4.5% raises, because I really worry about Indy here. On the other hand, Paul George would look great with Philly's core in two years time.
Indiana had roughly 6m in space before the Seraphin deal. They could have tried to do a renegotiation with Teague, or with George (on Sept 25th), but it doesn't look likely with that much room left.
Projected Win/Loss: 41-41
Off-Season Grade: D
bondom34 wrote:bondom34 Review
Key Losses:
Frank Vogel
George Hill
Ian Mahinmi
Solo Hill
Losses:
Jordan Hill
Chase Budinger
Ty Lawson
Shayne Whittington
Draft:
#50 Georges Niang
Trades:
George Hill for Jeff Teague (3-way trade with ATL and UTA)
#20 pick for Thad Young (BRK)
Rights to Stanko Barac for Jeremy Evans and $3.2m cash (DAL)
Personally, I like Hill more than Teague, so I wasn't a huge fan of that move. Thad for 20 was a solid deal though, and Teague isn't some massive downgrade. Overall I liked these moves.
Free Agency:
Nate McMillan
Al Jefferson 3/$30m (last year partially gtd)
Aaron Brooks 1/$2.7m
Kevin Seraphin 2/$3.6m (last year TO)
Georges Niang 3/$2.6m (2nd and 3rd year partially gtd)
Julyan Stone and Alex Poythress to 1 year (mostly?) non gtd
I'm meh on McMillan. Not a big fan, but after that everything was solid, Niang was nice, and that's a cheap deal for Al off the bench. The rest was cheap depth.
Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Jeff Teague, Aaron Brooks, Julyan Stone
SG: Monta Ellis, Rodney Stuckey, Joseph Young
SF: Paul George, C.J. Miles, Glenn Robinson III, Georges Niang
PF: Thaddeus Young, Lavoy Allen, Jeremy Evans. Alex Poythress
C: Myles Turner, Al Jefferson, Kevin Seraphin, Rakeem Christmas
Needs:
I'd look for a better backup 1 and 3, possibly with a Monta trade. They bigs seem pretty set and Teague/PG is solid.
Additional Thoughts:
Overall I liked their moves, McMillan is the big question. Supposedly they want to move, but that's not his style, nor Al Jeff's. I think they're gonna be really good, but that's a big question to me.
Projected Win/Loss:48-34
Off-Season Grade: B
dbrandon wrote:dbrandon Review
Key Losses:
Frank Vogel
George Hill
Ian Mahinmi
Solo Hill
Vogel's a loss...remains to be seen how much. George Hill and Ian Mahinmi are losses too--both are underrated, especially among casual fans.
Losses:
Jordan Hill
Chase Budinger
Ty Lawson
Shayne Whittington
None of these guys move the needle that much.
Draft:
#50 Georges Niang
Sure, I guess
Trades:
George Hill for Jeff Teague (3-way trade with ATL and UTA)
#20 pick for Thad Young (BRK)
Rights to Stanko Barac for Jeremy Evans and $3.2m cash (DAL)
Hill for Teague doesn't make a ton of sense to me, although he's a little more dynamic than Hill. And Thad Young makes less sense. I don't even know who Stanko Barac is, so this is probably fine.
Free Agency:
Nate McMillan
Al Jefferson 3/$30m (last year partially gtd)
Aaron Brooks 1/$2.7m
Kevin Seraphin 2/$3.6m (last year TO)
Georges Niang 3/$2.6m (2nd and 3rd year partially gtd)
Julyan Stone and Alex Poythress to 1 year (mostly?) non gtd
OK, here's the main thing the Pacers offseason centers on:
Bird wants to play uptempo. So he hires NATE MCMILLAN as his head coach. Nate McMillan's teams have historically played at a glacial pace.
They had terrific offense, so fair enough, I guess. If you want to switch from Vogel it makes sense. But to say you want to go uptempo and hire McMillan seems counterintuitive to me.
The Jeff Teague and Thad Young moves were to facilitate uptempo play. Will it work? IDK. Young's not great, but he's solid enough. Teague is solid. I really don't know.
I like the Al Jefferson signing a lot, but full disclaimer: I'm an Al Jeff stan. He's one of my favorite players to watch. So that may be a function of my inordinate love for Big Al.
Seraphin is solid, too. The other guys I don't have much of an opinion on.
Would love to see them move Stuckey and probably Ellis. Those guys don't seem to fit great.
Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Jeff Teague, Aaron Brooks, Julyan Stone
SG: Monta Ellis, Rodney Stuckey, Joseph Young
SF: Paul George, C.J. Miles, Glenn Robinson III, Georges Niang
PF: Thaddeus Young, Lavoy Allen, Jeremy Evans. Alex Poythress
C: Myles Turner, Al Jefferson, Kevin Seraphin, Rakeem Christmas
Turner's probably going to play over Jefferson. Hopefully. He's capable of being the kind of unicorn PF/C every team in the league is looking for.
Bench will likely be solid. Starters solid enough. We'll see how the fit is.
Needs:
Better players, especially at SG. Ellis and Stuckey are just not going to cut it. A better PF would be nice too, but Young's solid enough. They really need Turner to prove he's their C of the future sooner rather than later, and stretch his range out. If they can get some analog of the Dirk/Monta pick and pop going it'll do wonders for their efficiency.
Additional Thoughts:
A lot up in the air this season. I hope Bird knows what he's doing.
Projected Win/Loss: 40 wins
Off-Season Grade: C I guess? I'd give it an incomplete if I could because I really have no idea how this is going to turn out. Pacers and Magic are the two teams I think have the highest variance in the East.
Slava wrote:Slava Review
Key Losses:Frank Vogel
George Hill
Ian Mahinmi
Solo Hill
Last season they got their wish by upping the pace a bit to a little higher than league average but couldn't really benefit with a 25th ranked offense. Their elite defense however carried them to 45 wins so there is a good case to be made to hire a better offensive coach if you think the personnel on hand with Dan Burke the long time defensive coordinator can sustain the defensive quality.
I was a bit shocked by the firing but understood the need for change.
Losing Mahinmi and Hill in the same offseason is pretty risky as I felt both were vital cogs of an excellent defensive unit and contrary to the direction they want to move in, they had their best point differential in line ups featuring Hill at SG, George at SF and a bigger frontcourt with Turner and Mahinmi playing together. Line ups featuring Paul George at PF had a net negative rating. Its not like they were hurting for cap space either.
Losses:
Jordan Hill
Chase Budinger
Ty Lawson
Shayne Whittington
Jordan Hill moving on from an ill-fitting tenure as the starting center for the Lakers, went back to familiar comforts being an energy big off the bench. His rebounding percentages as usual were excellent but investing in Al Jefferson basically meant there won't be minutes for another big off the bench that cannot step out on pick and rolls.
Budinger had a fan in Larry Bird even if his career hadn't panned out quite well but now he's probably lost his last believer in the league.
Draft:
#50 Georges Niang
Niang at 50 is a questionable pick as he is a tweener with a lack of speed or explosiveness and has a PF's skill set in a SF's body with an inability to guard either position to utilize the other tools he brings to the table. His offense improved a bit in college over the seasons so if he can effectively shoot from 3, he might find a role off the bench.
However given that they are going with Aaron Brooks at back up PG, I feel someone like GP2 or Isiah Cousins could have been more useful here.
Trades:
George Hill for Jeff Teague (3-way trade with ATL and UTA)
#20 pick for Thad Young (BRK)
Rights to Stanko Barac for Jeremy Evans and $3.2m cash (DAL)
Thad Young is adequate on defense and adds some spacing. No one left on the board could have helped them this season anyways but still its a lot of money invested into a player who doesn't exactly move the needle if he is the 3rd or 4th best player on the roster.
Indiana have long needed some dynamism in the backcourt with a PG who can generate offense with some consistency. As such Teague is a nice fit if his injury issues are not serious as his twitter suggests but Hill was such a perfect fit here that you have to wonder if they couldn't have picked a league average PG in free agency without having to make this trade and disrupting that continuity.
Free Agency:
Nate McMillan
Al Jefferson 3/$30m (last year partially gtd)
Aaron Brooks 1/$2.7m
Kevin Seraphin 2/$3.6m (last year TO)
Georges Niang 3/$2.6m (2nd and 3rd year partially gtd)
Julyan Stone and Alex Poythress to 1 year non gtd
Nate McMillan's Blazer teams used to rank dead last in pace for most of his tenure so that makes this coaching hire a bit hard to decipher. Even if Bird is sticking to his principles that a new voice is needed every few years, McMillan had been the associate head coach for Vogel's tenure so its not like he is an entirely fresh voice here.
I expected them to go after Joerger when they fired Vogel and that would have been a very interesting coaching hire. McMillan isn't half bad but it seems a tad unimaginative and a move without much expected upside.
Al Jefferson is a bit of a head scratcher once again as it forces your bench unit to play a different brand of basketball compared to your starting line up. When you have to throw spare change at Aaron Brooks for the back up PG spot, you almost wonder why they are spending money on a big man when they could have brought back Jordan Hill for a fraction of that price and gone all-in after a better guard.
I mean why not pay JR Smith for a couple of seasons, pursue Bazemore, Lin or Seth Curry? Even an RFA bid for Motiejunas would make sense if you want to play a pass happy system with the big man happy to step out and knock shots down from the perimeter.
Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Jeff Teague, Aaron Brooks, Julyan Stone
SG: Monta Ellis, Rodney Stuckey, Joseph Young
SF: Paul George, C.J. Miles, Glenn Robinson III, Georges Niang
PF: Thaddeus Young, Lavoy Allen, Jeremy Evans. Alex Poythress
C: Myles Turner, Al Jefferson, Kevin Seraphin, Rakeem Christmas
This is a depressing depth chart. I see George, Turner and a bunch of mediocre players who are hard to move. I don't think Turner is quite ready to be the starting center even if skill wise he might draw you into a false sense of optimism. He was pretty badly exposed on defense in the playoffs last season by missing rotations and not being the consistent floor spacer that they expect him to be right now.
Perimeter shooting had been an issue along with quality of the bench and we don't see much improvement here if not a downgrade. Monta Ellis just doesn't fit into the starting line up and he is a 6th man if he is anything in the current NBA. The back up PG options are legitimately scary if Teague's health is not 100%.
Needs:
1. Better back up PG options
2. More reliable floor spacing
3. A stronger reserve unit
Additional Thoughts:
This team did not have a good offseason, considering they made some big changes when they could have upgraded the PG spot and beefed up the bench to be a better team. As it stands they have to rely on George's quality to win them a lot of games and I honestly don't think they have enough to make the playoffs.
If by chance George has a niggle here or a tweak there, they would do well to shut it down and tank the season to add some quality in a good draft.
Projected Win/Loss: 36-46
Off-Season Grade: D (Only because I reserve my Fs to offseasons where Billy King or Dell Demps trade away picks for utterly mediocre players. I love Bird a little too much to add him to that group.)
Scoot McGroot wrote:Scoot McGroot Review
Key Losses:
Frank Vogel (major)
George Hill
Ian Mahinmi
Solo Hill
Losses:
Jordan Hill
Chase Budinger
Ty Lawson
Shayne Whittington
Draft:
#50 Georges Niang
Trades:
George Hill for Jeff Teague (3-way trade with ATL and UTA)
#20 pick for Thad Young (BRK)
Rights to Stanko Barac for Jeremy Evans and $3.2m cash (DAL)
Free Agency:
Nate McMillan
Al Jefferson 3/$30m (last year partially gtd)
Aaron Brooks 1/$2.7m
Kevin Seraphin 2/$3.6m (last year TO)
Georges Niang 3/$2.6m (2nd and 3rd year partially gtd)
Julyan Stone and Alex Poythress to camp deals, with minimal guarantees (sub $100k)
Current Depth Chart: (taken from bbinsiders)
PG: Jeff Teague, Aaron Brooks, Joe Young
SG: Monta Ellis, Rodney Stuckey
SF: Paul George, C.J. Miles, Glenn Robinson III
PF: Thaddeus Young, Lavoy Allen, Georges Niang, Jeremy Evans (likely waived)
C: Myles Turner, Al Jefferson, Kevin Seraphin, Rakeem Christmas
Camp Bodies to be waived: Alex Poythress, Julyan Stone
Well, It's going to be a huge question mark of what kind of team we see this year with Frank Vogel pushed out and Nate McMillan given the reins. While the true architect of the defense (Dan Burke) is still on staff (over 15 years now), until we see some actual games, it's hard to see how it will all come together. The acquisition of Thad Young and letting go of Ian Mahinmi puts Myles Turner to his long-term center position for now and the future. Al Jefferson provides a nice counterpunch off the bench for 15-20 minutes a night of offense, and Seraphin/Christmas will hopefully provide situational defense deep at the center position, though, Christmas is likely playing in Ft. Wayne for another year.
Paul George is the man (and at the 3 spot). Teague is the man at the 1. The rest of playing time at the 1-3 is a jumble. Brooks, Young, and Stuckey are all ball handling scoring combo guards, while Miles and GR3 are wings that will play the 2 and 3 depending on need. The hope is that GR3 grows into that defending wing that can hit a 3 that we so desperately need, in time. Lavoy Allen will handle the backup 4 minutes as he has for several years now, and we will see if Niang can grow into handling some situational long-range shooting stretch 4 minutes off the bench as well, of if he's destined just to play in Ft. Wayne for awhile.
Jeremy Evans is likely an automatic cut. He's still returning from shoulder surgery, and likely won't be cleared to play until mid-October, well after camp. Realistically, we got paid enough cash to eat his salary, and make an extra $2m on top of that. Maybe he makes the roster if no one else proves themselves in camp, and Christmas bombs out a bit, but ultimately, he's likely the 16th guy right now. Though, there's still hope that a veteran, true SG, is signed that can push out both Christmas and Evans.
Clearly, the way Solo Hill finished the season, having him on the 4th year of his rookie contract would have been a good thing, but it's hard to tell if he would've put it together if we didn't decline his option. The shocking thing about Solo is, though, if not for the last week of the regular season, and the 1st round matchup (April 6-May 1), of hot shooting, he'd have been a guy that shot sub 30% on 3's on the year. One hot matchup (7-11 from 3) in game 82 of the season when everyone was benched jumped his shooting percentage well up. So, hard to tell what kind of player he is, and how big of a loss he truly is, until we see what he can do for a full season in New Orleans. Lawson, Budinger, and Whittington are minimal losses, if even that. Ian was a large loss, too, but there's simply no way we could've afforded that contract, at all, and it's a good thing to segue Myles into the starting 5 spot, where he should play long term. Ultimately, we're replacing Ian with Thad, and rookie Myles Turner with sophomore Myles Turner. Hard not to see those as mild, if not large, improvements, overall.
Needs:
What else? An actual SG. You know, one that can hit a 3. One that also plays defense on wings, to help take some pressure off of Paul George would be nice. Ideally, a Danny Green type player here would be huge in terms of fit.
Additional Thoughts:
One of the biggest questions as to how this team goes (other than the impact of Vogel to McMillan), is the swap from George Hill to Jeff Teague. Make no mistake, it's a huge change. Hill may not have been a pure PG, but he was an impact maker for the Pacers in his time here. He was an ultimate glue guy that was bounced around from position to position, and role to role based on whatever we hoped for that year. His long-range shooting and D at the head of the defense set up our system. The hope is that, while we downgrade in defense, that adding a true distributing PG in Teague can help keep Paul George fresh, and accelerate Myles Turner's growth by putting him in positions to succeed. It helps that Teague can hit the 3 also.
Projected Win/Loss: 49-33 I think pushing 50 wins at 49-33 is right about what we are realistically looking at. Bird's hope is probably that we win 53-55 games, though. Bird really thought we should've won a few more games this past year, and while I'm not willing to chalk up an extra 5 wins to the new coach (rather, maybe we should withhold a couple wins?), I think the addition of a bit of a glue type PF in Thad Young, with defined roles for PG, Thad, and Turner, and the continued health of George and development of Turner is what really improves this team. While Monta Ellis has been a good player to keep for us, I ultimately think that if he could be swapped for a 3 and D type wing, we'd fit better overall, but Monta still provides a good amount of vet leadership in the clubhouse (we're a "fishing" team, so he fits in perfectly), ball handling, and surprisingly isn't a defensive disaster for us, either. We're ok with him, but if we could find a better fit, we'd have to jump on it.
Off-Season Grade: Solid B
To turn a late 1st and Hill into Thad and Teague, and fit in Al Jefferson a team friendly deal, get a couple million for nothing in absorbing Evans, and fit in a couple guys like Aaron Brooks and Kevin Seraphin for little to nothing, it's good. Not great. No difference maker added, though Thad will help in the next couple years much more than a pick in the 20's would. Paul George has spoken glowingly of Bird's adding of win now guys like Teague/Thad rather than "rebuilding" and his appreciation of not wasting his prime years. Ultimately, if this team plays defense like it did last year, but actually puts together a semblance of offense under McMillan (hard to imagine, I know), it could turn into an A-. Until then, and right now, it's a solid B. Bird didn't work miracles, but he worked safe and sound deals to add pieces that can help for a bit and not hinder us going forward. Still a flexible future, with a solid now.
winter_mute_13 wrote:winter_mute_13 Review
Key Losses:
Frank Vogel
George Hill
Ian Mahinmi
Solo Hill
RIP Pacers' defensive identity. Losing the head coach, 2 starters, and the main sub from last year's team is a pretty big change. Larry Bird actually started the team makeover last season, but Frank Vogel stubbornly stuck to his ways, producing a team that was as surprisingly good defensively (3rd in DRTG) as it was characteristically inept offensively (25th in ORTG). There is no doubt IMO that Vogel is an amazing defensive coach, and that he has a knack for bringing out the best out of overlooked players. Swapping out Vogel felt a lot like change for change's sake.
George Hill has been the Pacers' 2nd or 3rd best player for a long time, and his absence will definitely be felt, especially after capping his Pacers' career by smothering Kyle Lowry in the playoffs. Mahinmi is an erstwhile journeyman center who suddenly turned into a 2-way force at age 29. Unfortunately he hurt his back and wasn't himself during the playoffs, and after that he was lured away by a huge offer from WAS. Solo though has the most interesting story - his offseason was so bad that the Pacers declined to pick up his 4th year rookie option, then he proceeded to stink it up for half a season before carving out a role for himself as a smallball PF. Arguably he was the Pacers' 3rd best player in the TOR series (shooting an unlikely 58% from 3).
Vogel, Mahinmi, and Solo all earned rich contracts from their new teams, and George Hill will probably get rewarded too when his contract is up. All are major losses to the team, but to be fair to Bird, he brought in replacements who on paper at least seem to be of comparable quality.
Losses:
Jordan Hill
Chase Budinger
Ty Lawson
Shayne Whittington
Just guys who didn't play particularly well. Jordan Hill actually had a hot start (in possibly a preview of how the Pacers will use Al Jeff) but he tailed off towards the end and was out of the rotation entirely during the playoffs.
Draft:
#50 Georges Niang
Very skilled player, but it's still a question whether he is athletic enough for the NBA. There's already talk from the Pacers' brass that Niang might be in the rotation as early as this year. The Pacers could use some shooting and playmaking off the bench, but they could also use more defense and it's extremely unclear how Niang will hold up on that end.
Trades:
George Hill for Jeff Teague (3-way trade with ATL and UTA)
#20 pick and future 2nd for Thad Young (BRK)
Rights to Stanko Barac for Jeremy Evans and $3.2m cash (DAL)
First trade: trading a non All-Star for a recent All-Star would seem like a win on paper, but honestly I think it's a wash in terms of talent. It could be though that Teague's attacking mentality would be a better fit for a Pacers offense that is too often anemic. And while IMO Hill is the better defender, Teague is no slouch either. I'd call this pretty even with some upside from fit and age (Teague is 2 years younger).
Second trade: picking up a starter for the #20 in a weakish draft seems pretty good. Thad Young ticks a lot of boxes for the Pacers - a quick PF who can match up with stretch 4s, who doesn't need a lot of possessions, and who is pretty good on the boards. A concern is that his shooting range doesn't really go out to the 3 point line, but between him and Myles Turner, the Pacers' starting bigs should provide enough stretchiness.
Third trade: Seems like a lot of money to cover a relatively small salary, but whatever it's just cash. Evans is athletic as heck - if he can provide some defense, there will be a place for him on the roster. The Pacers drafted Stanko Barac almost a decade ago, but the situation was never right to bring over the slow-footed sweet-shooting big man from his lucrative overseas career. Alas, at the age of 30 and with the league moving ever faster, it seems time has passed Stanko by.
Free Agency:
Nate McMillan
Al Jefferson 3/$30m (last year partially gtd)
Aaron Brooks 1/$2.7m
Kevin Seraphin 2/$3.6m (2nd year TO)
Georges Niang 3/$2.6m (2nd and 3rd year partially gtd)
What I like most about McMillan's promotion is the prospect of continuity from the Vogel era. Now obviously a former HC like McMillan will have many of his own ideas, but from what he's said in the media, it sounds like he's planning to keep a lot of the concepts that were used under Vogel. As head coach, McMillan's teams in SEA and POR were the mirror image of Vogel's - they were good offensively and mediocre to bad defensively, masked by the slow pace his teams used to play. It will be interesting to see if McMillan can create some beneficial fusion of styles here.
Al Jeff for $10m as the main bench scorer seems like a pretty nice deal, assuming he can stay healthy. He'll probably have the same role he had in CHA, or that Kanter did in OKC. Brooks is kind of meh, but the Pacers desperately need more shooting. Seraphin is an athletic big who should offer a (slightly) more capable defensive alternative to Al Jeff.
Current Depth Chart:
PG: Jeff Teague, Aaron Brooks, Joe Young
SG: Monta Ellis, Rodney Stuckey
SF: Paul George, CJ Miles, Glenn Robinson III
PF: Thad Young, Lavoy Allen, Georges Niang, Jeremy Evans
C: Myles Turner, Al Jefferson, Kevin Seraphin, Rakeem Christmas
bbinsiders is flat out wrong about Turner. He's going to start, with Al Jeff coming off the bench.
The guard depth is such that the Pacers will probably have to play 2 PG lineups at least some of the time. Niang (and Evans, if he makes the cut) seem like guys who will be tried at both PF and SF. Evans and Christmas are the most likely candidates to get cut, should the Pacers need an extra roster spot.
Needs: Need Monta to grow 3 inches taller and to up his shooting numbers by 10%. Seriously, the Pacers need more SG help, both in terms of quality and depth. Also need Turner to live up to expectations. The Pacers are putting a lot on his young shoulders this season.
Additional Thoughts:
This offseason has felt like mostly swapping out defense for more offensive-minded alternatives. Larry Bird's stated plan is pretty simple. He wants to improve the offense while maintaining the defense. That is... probably not possible with this roster. But hey, who am I to argue with Larry Legend. In reality, I do think the offense will improve but the defense will take a step back. The $64 question is how much of each will happen.
On the plus side, all these changes happened without long term ramifications. All the contracts the Pacers acquired or signed are pretty reasonable, plus the Pacers still own all their future first rounders. Should these moves not work out, there is still room for future maneuvering. On the negative side, signing mostly undervalued guys means that the roster is now full of bad-fitting pieces, so it will be a challenge for the coaching staff to assemble a working rotation. In particular, the lack of shooting may turn out to be a problem.
Also... Paul George has said that the Pacers have started extension talks with him, possibly in a renegotiate-and-extend deal similar to the ones signed by Harden and Westbrook. It's not very clear though whether this is happening this season or next (PG is under contract for 2 more seasons).
Projected Win/Loss: 45-37 i.e. same as last year. On paper, the roster looks a little more talented, but offset by the probable coaching downgrade. In truth, this is a completely different team from last year, so my prediction is probably wildly off.
Off-Season Grade: B
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