A Mad Men guide to the 2018-19 NBA Season

“I feel sorry for you.”

“I don’t think about you at all.” — Indiana Pacers

It might be the best comeback Don’s ever had, not only because it packed so much belittlement into so few words, but also because it made someone who was getting a little too big above the ears feel so incredibly small.

The Indiana Pacers know the feeling. When the franchise relented and traded a man who was the cornerstone of their roster, people figured that Paul George’s shadow would loom large over the organization for years to come. The Pacers were a footnote in the transaction, with all the attention paid to the wonderful and glorious things PG13 would accomplish with Russ for a year and whether he would depart for sunnier pastures over the summer.

By Christmas, not six months after the trade, the shoe was on the other foot, and Indiana had shoved it right up the rear ends of all the critics. Paul George was the furthest thing from the mind of any Pacers fan. The flotsam they got back in the deal – an overpaid guard who couldn’t shoot and a wasted lottery pick with a recognizable last name – turned out to be not so terrible after all. George, meanwhile, struggled mightily over the second half of the season en route to a first round playoff exit that concluded with a 2-for-16 clunker.

The Pacers? They gave the conference champs as much of a scare as any East team in the last four years. Oladipo gave us a show, Sabonis gave a glimpse into the future, and Indiana GM Kevin Pritchard gave everyone who doubted him the finger.

Now it’s about what they can do for an encore. The gang is back, along with additions Tyreke Evans, Dougie McBuckets, his mind-meld partner Kyle O’Quinn, and rookie Aaron Holiday.

George? He might as well be on the moon.