Paul George's horrific injury last summer doomed the Pacers to mediocrity in 2014-15. They were in the hunt for the last seed in the East but ultimately missed the playoffs, which led general manager Larry Bird to rethink his approach to team building. He announced they were moving away from the slow-paced, defensively-inclined identity of the past to embrace the small-ball, pace-and-space style that's more popular right now.
Indiana Pacers 2015 roster: From big to small in just one summer
The Pacers completely reinvented themselves as a small-ball team during the offseason but the transition won’t be seamless.
Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Breaking up a squad that made back-to-back conference finals when healthy is never an easy decision, but it did seem like that iteration of the Pacers had reached its full potential and came up short. Building a new competitive team in a completely different style, however, won’t be easy. There has been a lot of roster turnover and Paul George has already aired his grievances about his new role.
If the transformation works and the Pacers make the playoffs, it will look like a genius move in retrospect. If, instead, the team struggles and alienates its franchise star in the process, Bird will have to go back to the drawing board again next summer.
LAST YEAR
RECORD: 38-44 (9th in the Eastern Conference)
PLAYOFFS: Missed
OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 100.8 (24th)
DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: 100.9 (8th)
ROSTER
No. | PLAYER | POS | HEIGHT | WEIGHT | AGE | COLLEGE |
| 0 | C.J. Miles | SF | 6'6" | 231 | 28 | Skyline HS |
| 1 | Joe Young | G | 6'2" | 180 | 23 | Oregon |
| 2 | Rodney Stuckey | G | 6'5" | 205 | 29 | Eastern Washington |
| 3 | George Hill | PG | 6'3" | 188 | 29 | Indiana Purdue-Indianapolis |
| 5 | Lavoy Allen | PF | 6'9" | 255 | 26 | Temple |
| 10 | Chase Budinger | SF | 6'7" | 209 | 27 | Arizona |
| 11 | Monta Ellis | G | 6'3" | 185 | 29 | Lanier HS |
| 13 | Paul George | F | 6'9" | 220 | 25 | Fresno State |
| 25 | Rakeem Christmas | PF | 6'9" | 250 | 23 | Syracuse |
| 27 | Jordan Hill | C | 6'10" | 235 | 28 | Arizona |
| 28 | Ian Mahinmi | C | 6'11" | 250 | 28 | France |
| 33 | Myles Turner | PF | 6'11" | 243 | 19 | Texas |
| 40 | Glenn Robinson III | SG | 6'7" | 222 | 21 | Michigan |
| 42 | Shayne Whittington | C | 6'11" | 250 | 24 | Western Michigan |
| 44 | Solomon Hill | SF | 6'7" | 225 | 24 | Arizona |
Coach: Frank Vogel
Assistant coaches: Dan Burke, Nate McMillan, Popeye Jones
OFFSEASON CHANGES
IN: Monta Ellis, Chase Budinger, Glenn Robinson III, Jordan Hill, Myles Turner (draft), Joe Young (draft) and Rakeem Christmas
OUT: Roy Hibbert, David West, Luis Scola, Chris Copeland, Damjan Rudez, C.J. Watson
The Pacers decided to get younger up front, so they traded away Roy Hibbert and let David West and Luis Scola walk in free agency and replaced them with Turner, Christmas and Hill. They also got some firepower in the perimeter in the form of Monta Ellis and two intriguing long-term prospects in Young and Christmas.
DEPTH CHART
POINT GUARD | SHOOTING GUARD | SMALL FORWARD | POWER FORWARD | CENTER | |
STARTER | George Hill | Monta Ellis | C.J. Miles | Paul George | Jordan Hill |
RESERVE | Rodney Stuckey | Glenn Robinson III | Solomon Hill | Myles Turner | Ian Mahinmi |
RESERVE | Joe Young | Chase Budinger | Lavoy Allen | Shayne Whittington | |
RESERVE | Rakeem Christmas |
THE KEY QUESTION. What could send things spiraling the wrong way?
An injury to Paul George would quickly blow things up for the Pacers. Likewise, if PG's early frustrations with the spread attack fester into a true level of discord with Vogel and Bird, then the team could splinter into a problem area. While there is depth throughout the roster to cover any position, there is no backup for the superstar role PG has to play for the Pacers to succeed as a playoff contender. If PG can't stay healthy or isn't all in to lead the team's transition the the Pacers will be in for another long season.
But let's end this on a positive note and assume Paul George and the rest of the roster are on the same page going into the season. That should go a long ways toward the Pacers winning more games than they lose which will keep them in the playoff mix in the East.
- Tom Lewis, Indy Cornrows
PREDICTIONS
BEST CASE: Paul George embraces his new position at power forward and becomes a matchup nightmare, fueling a potent Pacers offense. The defense only declines slightly, Indiana wins 45 games and makes the playoffs.
WORST CASE: George never gets comfortable playing out of position and Vogel is forced to go away from the small-ball identity he wanted to forge. The aimless Pacers miss the playoffs and George continues to express his disappointment with how things are going.
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