The Indiana Pacers are a team that doesn't chase after high price talent via free agency or a top prospect in the draft. They're a club that signs players to fit a certain role and it has them in playoff contention every year. The problem is that they did not go very far in said playoffs. The lineup consists of one superstar in Domantas Sabonis and four good players (TJ Warren, Myles Turner, Caris LeVert and Malcolm Brogdon). This is a core that could easily match up against the East's best. Last season, the Pacers entered the bubble with a 45-29 record and second place in the division. Momentum was on their side. That momentum wouldn't materialize as the Miami Heat swept them out of the first round.
See, after that, Indiana decided to make a move that I was 50/50 about. They fired head coach Nate McMillian. You figured that the brass was about to search for a candidate who was experienced and could lift the Pacers into the next level.
They panicked and chose Raptors assistant Nate Bjorkgren for the job.
This is where things get complicated. Throughout the season, the Pacers looked flat and uninspired, hovering between the middle of the pack to near the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference. Bjorkgren seemed to be way in over his head. He was a coach with no experience at the head coaching level. He was put in a situation where he had to handle a veteran-laden roster. This worked out like peanut butter with pickles. Reports of him losing the locker room and going full-Thibodeau, causing a rift between him and management. This team and organization took a step backwards due to this. Then came the god forsaken Play-In Tournament, which the Pacers barely made in. After blowing out the Hornets, Indiana faced an opponent who they could easily match up with in the Washington Wizards. D.C. dominated the game and sent the Pacers packing for a long off-season. The brass decided to make a brash move, while also admitting a mistake by firing Bjorkgren after one season. It happens where a head coach isn't really ready to become that due to lack of experience, but for them, they could have planned it more wisely.
After his dismissal from Indiana, Nate McMillian landed on his feet as an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks and after the team struggled throughout the season, Lloyd Pierce was let go as head coach. McMillan was named the interim and something wild happened. The Hawks turned around to become the talk of the postseason and an Eastern Conference finalist. After the season ended, McMillian was named the permanent head coach of the team.
Now, the Pacers decided to bring back Rick Carlisle and hopefully can do what they wanted to do and rise up to the top of the Eastern Conference.
Or were they a year too late?
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