12. Indiana Pacers
Much like Dante Hicks from Clerks, the Indiana Pacers weren’t even supposed to be here.
When they traded star forward Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder in June for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, it appeared as though they were headed for a rebuild. Their signings of Darren Collison (two years, $20 million) and Bojan Bogdanovic (two years, $21 million) were confounding for that reason, but if the Pacers wanted to feign competitiveness rather than nosedive into a shameless tank, all the power to ’em.
A funny thing happened on the way to the lottery dais, though. Oladipo emerged as an All-Star and a shoo-in for Most Improved Player. Collison, Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young and Cory Joseph provided consistent complementary contributions, while Sabonis flourished outside of Oklahoma City. Hell, the Pacers even resuscitated Lance Stephenson’s career!
Amazingly, Indiana finished fifth in the Eastern Conference without a breakout season from Myles Turner, who looked like the team’s best hope heading into the year. The third-year big man recently told The Ringer’s John Gonzalez that being “the second and third option has been humbling,” adding this was the first season in which he “felt the grind of the NBA.”
Turner’s coming-out party during the 2015-16 playoffs, during which he averaged 10.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.3 blocks in 28.1 minutes in a seven-game slugfest against the Raptors, signaled the step forward he’d take as a sophomore last season. While a first-round date with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers isn’t conducive to a lengthy playoff run, the Pacers could at least put a scare into the defending Eastern Conference champions if Turner shakes off his season-long malaise and recaptures his mojo.
Next: 11. Minnesota Timberwolves