Indiana Pacers: How former players are faring this season

The Indiana Pacers made huge changes to the roster over the summer, sending out 10 players from last year’s squad. Here’s a look at how those former team members are getting along in their new surroundings.

The Indiana Pacers‘ trade of Paul George may have been the most eye-catching move the team made during the offseason, but it was far from the only one.

There are 10 players from the 2016-17 roster who are no longer with the club. Some of them are still in the NBA, a portion are playing overseas and one is in the G League, while the remainder are not currently playing professional basketball.

Here’s a look at all the former Pacers from last year’s roster — how they did in their last season in Indiana, where they are now and how they are performing (if they are still actively playing).

Paul George and his plight with the Oklahoma City Thunder has been discussed at length in the media, including a recent piece published in this space. Therefore, we’re going to focus here on the other nine players who left Indiana over the summer.

Indianapolis native Jeff Teague played only one season for the Pacers, but it was a productive year. In 2016-17, Teague averaged 15.3 points, 7.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game for the Blue and Gold.

Teague signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Timberwolves during the offseason, and he’s playing well for the Wolves thus far. He’s posting averages of 13.6 points, 7.1 assists and 2.8 rebounds per contest while shooting a career-high 40.9 percent from 3-point range.

C.J. Miles was Indiana’s designated sharpshooter last season, posting 10.7 points per game while hitting 41.3 percent from behind the 3-point line.

Miles was moved in a sign-and-trade with the Toronto Raptors over the summer, a deal that brought Cory Joseph to Indiana. Miles has struggled a bit north of the border, shooting 40 percent from the field and 37.6 percent on 3-point attempts.

Aaron Brooks followed fellow point guard Jeff Teague to Minnesota, signing as a free agent just before training camp opened. Brooks was in and out of the rotation during his lone season with the Pacers, averaging 5.0 points per game off the bench.

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Brooks has seen even less playing time with the Timberwolves as he’s been beaten out by Tyus Jones for the backup point guard spot. Aaron Brooks is scoring 2.6 points per contest this year in only 4.7 minutes per appearance.

Another one-year member of the team was Kevin Seraphin, who did an admirable job in limited opportunities with Indiana in 2016-17. Seraphin produced averages of 4.7 points and 2.9 rebounds in only 11.4 minutes per game.

Seraphin is currently playing in the EuroLeague for FC Barcelona Lassa, where he is the starting center for the club. He’s averaging 12.5 points per game on 57.5 percent field goal shooting.

Lavoy Allen came to the Pacers as a throw-in in the 2014 Evan Turner trade, but Allen actually had a longer and better tenure in Indiana (although he was little-used in his last season with the team).

Allen was not re-signed after his contract expired in 2017, so he headed overseas to play for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls of the Chinese Basketball Association, where he is currently playing as the team’s backup center.

Lavoy Allen and Rakeem Christmas trying to get all of the rebounds.
— 8 Points, 9 Seconds (@8pts9secs) March 11, 2017

Rakeem Christmas showed flashes of potential during his two seasons with the Pacers, but he was eventually waived this past summer after playing in 30 career games for the club.

Christmas landed with Galatasaray of the Turkish Basketball Super League, but reportedly left the team after appearing in only five games (while averaging 9.8 points and 3.4 rebounds per contest).

Former second round pick Georges Niang was also waived during the offseason, and he was signed by the Golden State Warriors a month later. The Warriors waived Niang during training camp, but he has since resurfaced with the club’s G League affiliate.

Niang is now a member of the Santa Cruz Warriors of the G League, and he’s making the most of the opportunity. Niang is averaging 18.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game on impressive shooting splits of .541/.429/.844.

Finally, there are two Pacers from the 2016-17 team who are not currently playing professional basketball: Monta Ellis and Rodney Stuckey.

Next: 2017-18 Week 9 NBA Power Rankings

Ellis’ career appears to be over, although he has not officially retired. Stuckey is taking a year off from the NBA to recover from multiple injuries, and he’s currently coaching at his high school alma mater, Kentwood High School in Covington, Washington.

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