Jeff Teague is feeling at home

The idea of being home is inherently ambiguous. There are tangible parameters that usually give it structure, like the four walls that provide a sense of comfort. Other things can add to it, too. Furniture placed right where you remember it. Streets you weave through almost automatically because the destination is a well-known constant.

Others define it as where the heart is, a feeling that isn’t dependent on location but rather on knowing you are somewhere you belong. It is sharing a special moment with people you care for and where that happens — anywhere you can find it — is home. There’s no place like it.

At the start of this season, Jeff Teague found himself somewhere recognizable but still searching for the familiar. After seven seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, Teague found himself at odds with the only organization he had ever played for and how they would move forward. So, after one All-Star appearance and years of moderate success, a deal was struck to send Teague back to Indianapolis, the city where he was born and raised, to join the Indiana Pacers.

When asked about the trade before a recent game in Orlando, Teague explained to The Step Back that the move wasn’t all that surprising. “Nah, not really,” he said with eyes cast downward. “We kind of talked about it. I just thought it was a time for us to move on and I think they kind of felt it too, a little bit. I kind of knew I wasn’t coming back and I knew it was going to be a different situation.”

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The Hawks have seemingly been at a crossroads for years, retooling as needed. The loss of DeMarre Carroll in 2015 stung, but was eased by the addition of Kent Bazemore. Al Horford’s departure this past summer was far more significant but Dwight Howard was signed to fill the sizable gap. Both Teague and Paul Millsap, Atlanta’s steadiest yeoman, will enter free agency this summer.

The situation was made complicated, at least for Teague, by the presence of Dennis Schröeder, a dizzying blur of erratic, unproven potential. He had served as a backup but the Hawks front office believed he was ready to supplant Teague as the starter. With the latter’s contract situation so tenuous and the belief in some circles that the former has a higher upside, the deal with the Pacers was arranged.

“Luckily,” adds Teague about the trade, “they sent me home.”

“Home.” True to the dichotomous nature of the word, what might seem like reward for past services rendered could also be considered a banishment. At the time of the trade, the argument could easily have been made that Atlanta had a higher ceiling than the Pacers. While the loss of Horford was a blow to the team’s free-flowing offense over the last few seasons under head coach Mike Budenholzer, Howard adds a different, positive impact. The Hawks might not be considered legitimate contenders (outside of a handful of teams, there really aren’t many who fit that designation) but Indiana certainly wasn’t among that upper echelon, either.

“It was all new to me, everything was new. Learning the offense, learning how guys play.”

And the trade itself, quietly pulled off during the offseason, also speaks volumes on Teague. His tenure with the Hawks was productive if perhaps underwhelming. He was a solid fit on a team composed of similarly-complementary players. Even the oft-criticized All-Star selection was an accolade he shared with three other teammates back in 2015. If the argument could be made that the NBA is now dominated by the point guard position — think Curry, Westbrook, and the like — then Teague’s place among his peers is decidedly middle-of-the pack.

There’s a tendency to accept the homecoming narrative as innately positive, no doubt augmented by LeBron James’ decision to rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014 after a successful but unpopular stint in Miami. In a sport that seems cold and impersonal, the choice (a significant factor in a game that frequently reminds us that it’s a business) to return home is often met with equal parts sympathy and nostalgia.

Teague’s return didn’t meet the criteria of being voluntary and, at first, everyone seemed to suffer as a result. The team that many believed wouldn’t be that successful met those lowered expectations, hovering at or below the .500 mark through late December. Teague’s struggles were a big part of the team’s lack of success; at the start of 2017, he was shooting just 41.9 percent from the field and averaged 7.6 assists per game.

With the homecoming banners now discarded and forgotten, the process of adjusting was proving to be a difficult one for Teague. “Yeah, I didn’t really know how to approach it,” he said about his transition. “It was all new to me, everything was new. Learning the offense, learning how guys play, their tendencies and things like that…it took a lot of getting used to.”

Among the factors that hindered that adjustment was the composition of Indiana’s team. In sharp contrast to Atlanta’s scoring-by-committee approach, the Pacers are led by one of the league’s foremost superstars, Paul George. As such, some acclimatization is necessary, especially from the team’s new point guard. “It was different for me being on a team where everybody kind of contributed, made plays,” said Teague of his time in Atlanta. “Whoever was in the game had a chance to be effective.”

George, by his own admission, was in “a dark moment” at the season’s start. An offseason that included work with USA Basketball was mentally and physically draining. Nagging injuries limited his play. And, as George admitted to USA Today’s Jeff Zilgitt, the “chemistry with myself and Jeff (Teague) wasn’t where it should’ve been.”

Teague’s place among the heirarchy of the NBA’s best point guards notwithstanding, there’s no denying that his role is to initiate the offense for the Pacers, to find where teammates are most comfortable and ostensibly lead them there. Orlando Magic head coach Frank Vogel (who was effectively fired by Indiana over the summer) aptly broke down Teague’s role.

“He’s always been, in my mind, the head of the snake with whatever team he’s on,” said Vogel.

To carry the metaphor a bit further, Teague needed time to shed his Atlanta-esque skin and grow into his role with Indiana. George had his best month of the season in January and so did the Pacers. Not coincidentally, Teague’s numbers jumped up significantly. Since the start of 2017, he’s shot 52.0 percent from the field while averaging 9.0 assists per game. Indiana has bounced back from a sluggish start to climb their way up the Eastern Conference standings after a recent seven-game win streak.

Teague’s coach in Indiana is Nate McMillan, himself a former NBA point guard for 12 seasons. He understands the demands of the position and recognized the growth over the last few weeks. “I think when you have changes such as we had this season,” said McMillan, “a new coach, new system, guys coming from different systems — you get a point guard who has to build chemistry with his team, his players out there. He’s the guy who’s going to establish how you play, both offensively and defensively…that takes some time. And I think he’s starting to get comfortable with what we expect from him. What he’s capable of bringing to the floor.”

Teague explained that playing with George, although different than what he was used to with the Hawks, has clear advantages. “He makes things happen on the floor and you got to get the ball to guys that can do things like he can. It’s fun playing with him and it makes my job a whole lot easier. When you have a go-to guy at the end of the game, you just gotta get the ball to him.”

George’s role with Indiana is certainly outsized compared to any individual on the Hawks but labelling the team a one-man show is somewhat reductive, particularly with second-year player Myles Turner, just 20 years old, starting at center. While not as dominant as Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns nor shining under impossibly bright lights like New York’s Kristaps Porzingis, Turner is every bit a revolutionary at the position. He’s shooting 38.8 percent from 3-point range this season, while still averaging 7.2 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. It’s the kind of versatility, Teague believes, that will lead to eventual stardom.

“He’s a talented player, man,” said Teague. “The game’s gonna slow down for him in a couple of years and he’ll be an All-Star, one of those guys that people will be talking about. Right now, he’s playing great, he’s open, willing to learn — willing to work — so he’s gonna a be a special player” Much like his role with George, Teague says, when it comes to the young Turner, he does whatever he can to help him continue to grow.

“Anything can happen, man. We get into the playoffs, get a good matchup, who knows?”

All positivity aside, there remain concerns that the streak, much like a homecoming narrative, is superficially alluring. The Pacers were almost certainly a lottery-bound team last season, with George (back from a brutal leg injury in 2014), a collection of role players and Turner, just a rookie. They clawed their way into the playoffs by virtue of a strong defensive identity and George’s individual greatness, even pushing the Toronto Raptors into a seven-game series in the first round. Many attributed that success to Vogel’s ability to sculpt something useful, if not beautiful, out of the roster’s raw clay.

The team’s recent success might just be a mirage, however. Their win streak was put to an end after a thrashing by the Cavaliers, driving home the point that Indiana is far from reaching the status of legitimate contender. Another early-round exit is still a possibility, should they even sustain their current pace and make the playoffs. Teague insists otherwise, saying the Pacers are deep — “We’ve got a good group, man, a lot of talented players, 1-15, who know how to play” — and a chance to prove it is all they need. “We can continue to keep growing, go in the right direction. Anything can happen, man. We get into the playoffs, get a good matchup, who knows?

That works for any team in the league,” he says, before solemnly repeating. “Anything can happen.”

There’s a sense that Teague is selling the sizzle a little overzealously and the steak might be overcooked and gristly. It’s difficult to get used to a new team with lofty expectations, just as he’s been challenged in his return home. There are factors that fans are often ignorant to while embracing the homecoming narrative so readily. The demand of family, friends and acquaintances can take a toll on NBA players, both emotionally and financially. From the near-constant string of ticket requests to, in Teague’s case, living in the basement of his parents’ house.

But Teague is enjoying the return to Indiana, despite the occasional inconvenience. In describing what motivates him, he’s at his most earnest, almost to the point of vulnerability. “I just love basketball,” making eye contact to drive home the point. “Seriously…it’s all I do, all I talk about. It’s a joy just to play, just to have the opportunity…I know it’s rare just to have the chance to be in the NBA, be able to play for eight years. I’m thankful. I’m blessed. And I’m going to continue to work hard because it’s just something I love doing.”

Shortly before sitting down to the interview, the Pacers were engaged in a post-practice shooting exercise. Five players, including Teague and George, position themselves at points around the arc, knocking down 25-footers with careless ease. As the players start, they call out, “One-oh”, “Two-oh”, continuing after each whip of the net or until a shot is missed. Whether this is for fun or mandated by coaches isn’t clear but it’s beautiful and captivating, even in its simplicity. The players get as high as “Fifteen-oh” — Teague never misses — before starting over. There are laughs all around as a player misses, beginning the cycle again, and Teague is smiling as he effortlessly hoists each shot.

Indiana’s season remains one shadowed by doubt. A long playoff run or failing to earn a postseason berth are equally possible. But with each win, it’s clear that Teague is becoming more comfortable with the team that is both his and George’s all at once. If that’s hard to grasp, perhaps that’s how it should be. Basketball is something enjoyed in both tangible and emotional ways.
In that sense, it’s a lot like coming home.