Indiana Pacers: 3 ways to build on playoff appearance in 2019-20

2. Start Domantas Sabonis

After a potential Sixth Man of the Year campaign, Domantas Sabonis deserves a role as a starter on this up-and-coming Pacers team. He hasn’t seen a regular starting role in two seasons with the Pacers, but it’s clear that his efficiency off the bench could be used more throughout games for Indiana.

With Thaddeus Young‘s contract expiring, they’ll have to make the decision to either re-sign him as Sabonis’ backup, or let him test the free agency market. Either way, Young, now 31, had a relatively quiet year in 2018-19, and the Pacers need more of Sabonis’ productivity on both sides of the ball if they want to push past the first round on the playoffs for the first time since the Paul George era.

The question will be how well the talents of Sabonis and Myles Turner mesh together as starters. We saw a small sample size during this past season — only 429 minutes — in which the two shared the court and recorded a 96.5 defensive rating and a less-than-impressive offensive rating of 99.6.

To expect real success with that lineup, though, Turner will have to become more versatile in the low post, and Sabonis may need to become more agile as a perimeter defender, especially against “small-ball” lineups around the league. If the Pacers can properly space the floor and place the right lineup around this frontcourt, they’ll be a more formidable team to face come playoff time.