Indiana Pacers’ playoff aspirations slowly fading away
By Dylan Hughes
Even without Paul George and Lance Stephenson, the Indiana Pacers saw making the playoffs as a possibility this season. At 16-30, chances are slimming.
The Indiana Pacers came into the season with some major issues. Lance Stephenson, Indiana’s main ball handler in his time there, left Larry Bird for Michael Jordan in Charlotte. Paul George, the Pacers’ best player and rising superstar in the NBA, went down with a horrific leg injury in the summer that will cause him to miss the entire season. Bird and Co. made their best effort replacing Stephenson and built the bench to perhaps the best shape it has been since the early 2000s. But still, the Pacers are 16-30 and chances of making the playoffs slim week by week.
Winning hasn’t been easy for the Pacers this season. It doesn’t help that they have only played two games with a completely healthy roster–not including Paul George, of course. They have had more combined missed games among their roster than any other team in the league. And still, they are the 12th seed in the East. Is that good? Absolutely not. But for a team that has endured so many injuries, it’s not too shabby.
But for this roster, there are no excuses. This is still a roster that consists of savvy veterans who have won many, many games over their years in the Association. George Hill is arguably the team’s best player right now, and with him missing more time than everyone but George, winning can be hard to come by. But still, winning the little amount of games the Pacers have with David West, C.J. Watson (for the most part), and Roy Hibbert starting, along with C.J. Miles and Luis Scola coming off the bench doesn’t make sense.
There have been all kinds of theories of why they are losing, with one being that they just don’t care. All teams lack energy and effort here and there, but the Pacers lack it much more than that when they really need it more than other teams to win some of these games. If this is the case, the players seem to know better than the front office that this team isn’t a contender this season. For the players, a mindset like this means they just got to get through the season and they can begin preparing to come back next season with George. For the front office, it means they need to either make trades to improve now, or make trades to build for the future. Or if they are happy with this roster playing with George next year, they stay put.
With the February 19 trade deadline about three weeks away, we’ll soon find out what the Pacers will do.
If anything does happen, it could set them up to win now or set them back. If they realize the opportunity they have to get a lottery pick, trading away big and/or expiring contracts for potential future pieces and/or draft picks seems like a pretty good idea. This core has always been just a contender and nothing more, and keeping it together at this point seems pointless.
Sure, with George back next year, along with an improved bench, they could get back to making deep postseason runs, but with an aging West that could be of use to a contender right now, keeping him doesn’t make much sense. There are plenty of teams that could use an upgrade at power forward, and if those teams are desperate enough to surrender a first round pick in return for West, Indiana has to pull the trigger. And West isn’t the only piece the Pacers should look into trading.
Roy Hibbert and his very large contract could be useful to a team like the Thunder, who need to upgrade at center. Plus, it gives them the chance to unload Kendrick Perkins’ expiring contract and Reggie Jackson, who they just need something in return for as he certainly won’t resign there in the summer. Scola could also be good for a “win now” team that needs a good power forward–like West. Watson would be an upgrade at backup point guard for tons of playoff teams, including Cleveland and Detroit (if they end up making the playoffs, of course) after losing Brandon Jennings for the season. Chris Copeland could be of use to a team needing a wing shooter, like Memphis or Portland.
Bird loves to compete, and he’ll do everything he can in the offseason to make sure his team is competitive for the following season. With his team right now, as they continue to fall in the standings (2-8 in last 10, including a seven-game losing streak that just ended in Orlando), preparing for the future is the best option. He can use his useful pieces as bait to 1) lure in buyers and convince them to give up too much or 2) dump salary and build through the upcoming draft and free agency.
Rebuilding–or retooling, if you will–isn’t characteristic of Bird, but if Indiana hasn’t gained any ground in the standings by the All-Star break, don’t be surprised to see moves being made.