Indiana Pacers: 3 candidates for a breakout season in 2019-20
By Fox Doucette
Aaron Holiday
Aaron Holiday, if we’re being honest with ourselves, stunk out the joint as a rookie.
He shot 40.1 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from long range, posted a sub-G-League-level minus-0.1 VORP and was so putrid in the playoffs that he managed five points, three fouls, and a turnover — and no other counting stats — in 13 minutes of garbage time across three of the Pacers’ four losses to the Boston Celtics.
But this is a guy whose brother Jrue Holiday is one of the most underrated players in the league outside of New Orleans and whose other brother, Justin Holiday, played all 82 games last season while averaging 10.5 points per game.
A guy with a pedigree that good and a year of NBA experience under his belt learning from a winning team can only get better in his sophomore season.
If Holiday finds his shot, he has the potential to evolve into a guy like Vinnie Johnson used to be for the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons back in the day, an instant-offense spark plug off the bench and that’s been a weakness for the Pacers over the past few seasons.