Indiana Pacers 2024 Outlook

Indiana Pacers 2024 Outlook

[Music] all right we are back what is going on Pacer Nation welcome back to another episode of Bring the juice Pacers your guys Cody and Derek here back for another one guys and the Indiana Pacers season obviously came to a crashing hle after they got swept by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals I know Derek talking about just the season that the Pacers had you know a season f with a lot of Promise a lot of exceeding expectations in a lot of ways but definitely a bummer in how it ended especially considering the fact the Pacers had multiple games that they probably should have won in that series and they probably could have won in a lot of ways and at least kept that series a lot more interesting but that’s neither here or there the Pacers are done for this season and so we wanted to kind of talk about off of the season the Pacers just had what is kind of some of their Outlook moving forward you know into the 2025 season 2024 2025 season and kind of like what does that look like for the Indiana Pacers because Derek this was a team that you know a lot of things kind of had to come together really quickly for the Pacers if you remember multiple guys that were on the Pacers roster to end the season or had different roles uh at the end of the season did not have similar rules or weren’t on the roster before the season started in the 2023 off season so the Pacers did a lot kind of in season in a lot of ways made some adjustments and things like that we know obviously the biggest one trading for pasal SE yakum back in January and you know kind of having him be their Guy moving forward at that power forward position and uh obviously we know with you know the injury with the trade of Buddy healed the injury to Benedict Maan that kind of forced you know a guy like Andrew nard to play and to get a lot of experience you know a guy that was a second round pick for Indiana and I think dererk we can easily say that you know through that season and then kind of into the postseason you really saw Andrew nard being forced into the fire a lot and honestly responding and RIS to the occasion a lot of times especially against the Boston Celtics you saw Andrew nard just even with with tyres Halbert and getting injured Andrew NIMH hard was that guy offensively and you you had a lot of these different guys is kind of taking on more roles as the season went on you know and also guys like Obi toppen who got brought over to the Indiana Pacers who was a starter and then got relegated to the bench putting some good minutes out of there TJ McConnell Off the Bench as well I and obviously the rise of Tyrese halberton this season so a lot went on for the Indiana Pac there’s a lot of movement a lot of guys rising up uh some other guys getting sent away a guy getting injured so Derek it what’s kind of a whirlwind of a season for for the Indiana Pacers wasn’t it oh 100% it was definitely a shock for a lot of people because not a lot of Pacers fans thought that the Indiana Pacers would have been in the position that they were in you know fighting for a chance for an NBA championship this year regardless of a lot of things that happen with their opponents and a bunch of other things it doesn’t matter you gota you got to play the teams that’s in front of you and the Pacers were able to do it you know the was a team that two years ago was one of the Laughing stocks of the NBA and now all of a sudden here we are one of the biggest mysteries of this year and for and for good reason and uh now people are starting to wonder you know what what are the Pacers going to do to keep up with this momentum that they have going for them right now so I mean it’s what we’re about to talk about here but it is nice to see this Pacers team go from who are they drafting at this high draft pick going forward versus like what are what are some moves that can be made in the off seon to make this team better than what it already is so uh it’s a nice change of pace for sure oh absolutely and defin great to see uh Indiana with this extremely young team like we talked about still fighting to The Bitter End and really challenging and I think honestly Derek being able to pretty much match every team in the playoffs I know Boston swept them and you see that on paper and you say man you know the Pacers were no match for the Celtics but you know what I kind of said to preview that matchup of that series I said I think Boston will win but I think Indiana will give them a run for their money and they certainly did where they had what like three games that they probably should have won but they kind of in certain ways snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory in a lot of ways which talk about coaching again uh which is definitely an issue that’s we’ll talk about that at another point but when it cames to the Pacers though I mean this is an extremely young group Derek an extremely young core in a lot of ways of some guys that you feel like can be long-term pieces for you we already know Halle Burton the good news now is he’s going to be able to rest this offseason and get back to 100% for next year uh which is definitely great so he’s got a number of months off here to be able to rest up you know I know he’s been dealing with you know some of that stuff with the leg lower body injuries and stuff like that so I’m hoping that he can be you know back to 100% at that point and then obviously I talked about Andrew M hard which Derek just talk about coming out of nowhere I mean I think he’s definitely your future there at at that guard position I do believe he is that guy that can play that role and do it well and again him and Tyrese still you know very young in their in their 20s so you got two guys there that you really like and then you obviously you have Miles Turner who you know well for he has definitely has faults but you know he had probably his best season as a pro you you have Pascal sakam who’s going to be a free agent we we’ll talk about that who I thought just fit really well into what the Pacers like to do offensively and I know the Indiana Pacers definitely want to have him back so you have a lot of really good pieces Derek that you think moving forward and having kind of a year or really like a couple months of chemistry together now that they’re going to have an offseason together and they’re going to be able to go into the season hopefully in 2024 they’re going to be even better moving forward just from the young guys getting better and also just having Pascal SE yakum actually in the system for longer than a couple months so a lot there when it comes to the Indiana Pacers but let’s kind of Jump Man into some of the things that the Pacers need to do this off season and again we’re going to kind of talk about that as things get a little bit closer guys again this is still pretty early on in the off season but kind of looking forward for the Indiana Pacers as good as they were this past season as much as they exceeded expectations I think you said it pretty well Derek is like they they can’t afford to do nothing they still have to add to this roster right and before we talk about some ways that the Pacers can improve we got to talk about some guys that the Indiana Pacers definitely need to keep uh the first guy definitely Derek we got to talk about Pascal seaka I mean you traded for him you traded multiple first round picks to acquire him and he definitely was a guy that you really feel like rose to the occasion and honestly when Tyrese halberton was dealing with those injuries uh he was the best player in a lot of ways for the Indiana Pacers down the stretch of that 2024 season for Indiana so you definitely have to keep Pascal SE yakum uh for sure and uh and I I just think that’s just a necessity Derek what are your thoughts on Pascal sakam and and the potential of Indiana keeping him around I mean it’s no doubt that you obviously want to try to keep this guy around I mean the big question mark is you know like how much are you gonna pay for him are you going to give him a Max I mean that’s kind of what a lot of people are asking themselves with Pascal seum I mean even from just the top free agents on the board if you’re looking at just uh the previous average annual salary that he was getting I mean he was the sixth highest of the free agents now obviously you know that’s not including everyone but I mean you got James Harden up there you got LeBron James up there you got Paul George Klay Thompson Tobias Harris you know you got some big names guys up there that are free agents this year and you know it the numbers are only going to probably continue to go up it will definitely be a question mark of you know what what is SE yakum going to take because I would hope you I wouldn’t imagine you wouldn’t want to give him the max just because listen I get that he is such an important player to this team obviously the stats that you’re giving him he’s not he’s not the elite of the elite Elite when you’re looking at the Players but this is a guy that 100% is going to be getting you know 35 Plus million next year because he has leverage in the fact that the Indiana Pacers they were a different team with I mean they were they were a good team with Pascal without Pascal se yakum but then they became a really good team uh with Pascal cakam out there and I mean just looking at the numbers with the Pacers this year for uh seaka actually played the fewest minutes on average throughout the games this year for the Pacers the lowest amount he’s had since the 2017 2018 season his second year in the league so I mean think about that he’s playing at a much lower minutes per game average right now but yet is still averaging almost the same amount of points tied for his best shooting uh percentage season this year had his best threo shooting percentage year uh one of his better Year’s rebounding so I mean this is a guy that 100% was playing at a really great level last year for the Pacers and you saw the difference in how good offensively he needed to be and how he basically took this team and really fit right into the system he’s one of those guys that can create his own shot and I will say this Cody I think he’s he is one of only three players on this team right now or actually no I’ll say four I’ll say four that that that actually can realistically create their own shot all by themselves that don’t need spacing that don’t need you know that can actually dribble and do all this other stuff I mean halberton can do it uh I would say cakam Obviously can Benedict mathine can do that and obviously we were missing mathine the the back half of the year and when it comes to honestly for me TJ McConnell because McConnell doesn’t McConnell can create his own shot because he’s so Shifty and he knows how to play uh body leverage but outside of that you don’t have many guys that can create their own shot and can dominate offensively the way that pakum can can make you go on a run your guards certainly don’t do that very well I mean listen nard give credit to nard but n hard’s not a nard doesn’t create his own shots very well nay Smith doesn’t do it you know so and Miles Turner I love that Miles Turner can shoot from away from the basket but he he’s not creating his own shot I mean it’s it that’s what becomes so relevant to you as an organization is to have this guy out there to create some offense for you and if I’m the Indiana Pacers I’m looking for somebody that can in the off season that can add another piece to this offensive staff because if if you’re not willing to bank on the idea that nard or nay Smith are ever going to be you know 17 18 point per game players then you have to find someone in that shooting guard SL small forward and I’m mainly small forward because Benedict mathine can be that 15 to 16 point a game guy if you ask him to and honestly could potentially go even higher but you need to find a small forward out there that can also create their own offense we just don’t have that right now yeah and I do think going back to seak real fast I mean him and halberton they’re just so similar like I feel like their styles are very similar and I think they just fit very well on paper together you know they’re they’re both used to kind of that fast-paced type of offense and obviously we know cakam Works more inside whereas halberton is more of the you know beyond the Arc Type of Guy you know he can shoot a little bit from everywhere seak very good mid-range and also can post up as well so I think that’s a very good fit and I think right now if you’re the Indiana Pacers it’s like you know seaka wants to be here the the Pacers obviously value seaka a ton so I think it makes a lot of sense and obviously we’ve heard you know what the Pacers have already said about keeping him around they definitely no doubt in their mind I mean Carl’s even said it Tyresa said it like they’re G to do everything in their power to keep him around so I think at the end of the day you know all those factors make me think it gets done uh but it’s far as some other things Obie toppin is going to be a restricted free agent this year I thought Derek was a great season from Obi toen I mean pretty much career highs in every category and became a really good player Off the Bench as well um when you needed it he gave you some good minutes off the bench so I definitely would hope that the Indiana Pacers can keep Obie topping around as well um you already mentioned some of those other needs that the Pacers need you know you’re talking about another shot Creator potentially I think Derek whether it’s a guy on their roster already or not the Pacers need to figure out that you know they need to get that guy that’s that legit Wing out there right they need to get that guy for the Pacers that kind of can help you out in a lot of different ways I just I don’t feel like they NE necessarily have that you know as well and I just think they got to figure that out one way or another is just like figuring out how can they you know improve in those categories and I think if they can do that and they can get a legit Wing I think this could be really good for the Pacers you know I mean we saw them Derek at certain points kind of get out physical by you know the uh the Boston Celtics at times you know we saw the Pacers I mean we’ve talked about it like the Pacers have struggled when it comes to points in the paint and when it comes to rebounds right so getting another legitimate threat that can get you some rebounds would definitely be a nice thing as well you know as good as Miles Turner is shooting the basketball he still is kind of an inconsistent rebounder in a lot of ways right it’s like some games he’s just Dynamic and some games he kind of disappears a little bit so the Pacers got to figure that out I think so just adding some size and some physicality to their uh to their roster I think will go a long way and you never know it could be guys like Benedict Maan jarus Walker some of those guys just getting another year or it could be the Pacers maybe looking to add you know a veteran player or two this off season and I do think that’s one thing Derek that the Pacers maybe need a little bit more because they are such a young team obviously we know they have Pascal and TJ McConnell and Miles Turner but maybe they could use another veteran player to come off the bench and give you some quality minutes right I I could see the Pacers doing that well they do have a couple guys you like you know Off the Bench as well I don’t think it would hurt at all the Indiana patri added some more veteran pieces some more physicality to their roster so that way you know when they’re moving forward and especially if you know they they get back to a point where they’re playing the Boston Celtics again they got to be able to get those Second Chance points they got to be able to do that we’ve seen the Pacers at times Derek even in even in some of the series where they could not get rebounds right they could not get rebounds to save their lives they they got out physical at times and so I think that’s one thing the Pacers got to do man is just get more physical when it comes to some of the players that they add to their roster this year or develop on their roster this year so what are your thoughts on some of the needs for the Pacers that they need to add to this roster to build upon what they did here in 2023 yeah um I would definitely say it it has to be the small forward position for me I I think that’s a big aspect for me in this one because you know I think that we obviously have our point guard we have faith in that one shooting guard wise we have a shooting guard that can get you 16 points a night easy uh in Benedict Maan you have two you have two or three other guys at shooting guard and point guard that you feel confident in for your ability to play great defense get you a few buckets here and there no question so you know I think you need to find that that number three that you know can play a couple of these guys better like the Jason tatums of the world you know being able to play better defense against guys like that I think that’s important and finding that number three that can be an offensive impact as well because we just don’t really have that right now so I I’d prefer to find that starter role type player for that yeah and whether that’s you know a guy in free agency whether that’s you know like you talking about developing a guy like jarus Walker or whoever it is you know or maybe ni Smith takes another step like there’s a lot of opportunities here for the Indiana Pacers but I think they just need to get a couple more role players that can play some quality minutes for them you know they have one of the deepest teams in the NBA when they’re all healthy but I think it wouldn’t hurt at all in the slightest especially like we talked about at small forward for the Indiana Pacers to invest for sure they do have some some draft picks this year Derek but all draft picks later on in the draft so but again they found players before in that second round so I mean just adding some guys maybe in the interior a little bit wouldn’t hurt at all if you’re the Indiana Pacers but uh yeah man overall I think for the Pacers they add a few more players here maybe at the small forward position maybe even you know a center or something like that but I think the biggest thing for Indiana man is just staying healthy next year obviously retaining seak and toen would be great and moving forward man giving them an offseason together giving them training camp together and kind of letting it go man and let some of these young guys develop it’ll definitely be great to get back you know a guy like Benedict matheran he talked about I think he’s a guy that definitely has that All-Star potential on him he just gota you know continue to get better um and stay healthy obviously as well but overall the future definitely is bright for the Indiana Pacers a very young team in a lot of ways but definitely a lot of young Talent on this r roster think if they add a few more uh pieces a little more tweaks to the roster they definitely could be a team that’s right back up there competing in the East again so guys let us know your overall thoughts on the Indiana Pacers moving forward their Outlook moving into the 2024 offseason and Beyond let us know all those things in the comments down below but guys that’ll do it for this one thank you so much for tuning in and as always guys go Pacers [Music]

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