What’s next for the Pacers?

Lessons, and a warning, from an impressive playoff run

BY DAVID THORPE

Andrew Nembhard has opened up new possibilities for the Pacers’ powerhouse offense. STACY REVERE/GETTY IMAGES

No Pacer player understands the fleeting nature of success better than Pascal Siakam. He won a ring in his third season with the Raptors, a team he never thought he’d leave—a team that had the tools to return to the Finals yet never got close again. 

“It’s hard because I know how hard we worked and how close we were in all these games—and I know how hard it is to come back to this position,” Siakam told reporters after the Pacers’ terminal Game 4 loss to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals. “I could tell you, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna learn from it, and it’s gonna happen,’ but it’s not guaranteed. And I know how hard it is to get to this point.”

The Atlanta Hawks’ deep run into the 2020-2021 Eastern Conference finals once had me convinced a title lay in their near future. Since, Trae Young and Co., through coaching changes and personnel pivots, have lost two first-round series and failed to make this year’s playoffs. 

To avoid joining the Hawks as a cautionary tale, the Pacers will have to embrace what Siakam understands about the playoffs: They’re young, and they had a little luck on their side. The Giannis-less Bucks, a Knicks team rotating through triage—it wasn’t easy, and at times earlier in the postseason they behaved like it was going to be. 

But the luck ran out in Boston, where they faced not only the league’s second-best defense but the one offense in league history better than Indy’s. Still, the Pacers had a chance to win three-of-four losses to a superior team (albeit one missing Kristaps Porziņģis), two without All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton. One positive outcome of the Celtics’ sweep: A third star may have emerged in Andrew Nembhard. And they’ll have several reference points for crunch-time failures—and several reasons to be optimistic about next season. Management’s done an excellent job: The team boasts three starters aged 25 or younger. Re-signing Siakam and finding a way to meld him to the system will give them a reliable second star with an All-NBA ceiling. 

Saying the Pacers will make the playoffs next year surprises no one, but much of their own ceiling depends on players’ willingness not just to coexist but to thrive together. That’s how a playoff team makes the jump to serious contender.

Let’s take a look at what the Pacers could do to make that a reality.