Indiana Pacers: Projected wins and title odds for 2017-18
The Indiana Pacers have made big changes this summer in an effort to remain competitive. Here is a compilation of media predictions for the 2017-18 season.
The Indiana Pacers are going to have a revamped lineup this coming season with nine new additions to the roster, and fans are wondering if these moves will translate into wins.
Even though the season won’t begin for a while, nearly all of the offseason moves have been completed around the league, so media outlets are already making projections for the 2017-18 campaign.
We begin with CBS SportsLine, who predicts the Pacers will have a record of 34-48 when the dust settles in 2018. SportsLine concludes that Indiana will take a step back without Paul George.
"“The Pacers have traded Paul George and will begin to re-tool with third-year center Myles Turner as the main building block.As you might expect, Indiana is expected to drop considerably from last year’s 42 wins, but SportsLine‘s projection is actually quite a few games higher than the Vegas line. Maybe Darren Collison is better than we thought?”"
Incidentally, the Vegas line that the article refers to was provided by Las Vegas handicapper Josh Nagel, who places the Pacers’ win total at 30.5 for 2017-18.
The Pacers will be above .500 just once this season, assuming they beat the Nets on opening night. After that, ALL ABOARD THE TANK-MOBILE!
— Dave Searle (@MillerTimePod) August 14, 2017
Sports Insights offers another take on Indiana’s prospects for the coming season, predicting a win total of 31.5 in their most recent update that was published on Aug. 14.
Vegas Insider weighs in on the Indiana Pacers as well, posting an over/under of 31.5 victories this season. They also project that the Pacers will finish nine games out of the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
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If NBA championship odds are more to your liking, we have those too, courtesy of Sportsbook Review.
SBR shares NBA title odds from seven sources, with the most pessimistic of these (from 5Dimes) showing Indiana with a 1000-1 shot at the NBA championship in 2018.
Heritage is a bit more optimistic at 650-1, while the other five services agree that the Pacers’ chance at the Larry O’Brien Trophy this season comes in at 500-1.
Once it became clear that Indiana was going to have to deal Paul George for below-market value this offseason, it seemed to be a given that the team was going to take a step back in 2017-18.
The Pacers are now left without any NBA All-Stars, although they do have some players who could ascend to that level within the next year or two — namely Myles Turner and/or Victor Oladipo.
The projected starting lineup for the Blue and Gold currently looks like this: Darren Collison and Victor Oladipo are penciled in to open in the backcourt, while Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young and Myles Turner will tentatively fill out the frontcourt.
Key reserves will include Lance Stephenson, Cory Joseph, Glenn Robinson III and Domantas Sabonis.
However, any one of these bench players could earn a starting spot at some point during the season, although it appears that Stephenson is probably well-entrenched as the sixth man.
Once the flurry of moves around the NBA came to an end this summer and rosters were primarily set, the Indiana Pacers took on the feel of a 32-win team in the view of this scribe.
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32-50 isn’t a good record and won’t get you into the playoffs, but this group should be fun to watch and easy to root for given the young talent and positive personalities that now reside on the roster.