Indiana Pacers: 5 reasons to be excited for 2019-20 NBA season

1. Malcolm Brogdon is the best point guard this team’s had in years.

When was the last time the Pacers had a truly first-class point guard running their offense?

You have to go back to the late 1990s when Mark Jackson was still on the team dishing the ball to guys like Reggie Miller and Rik Smits. The point guard has always been passable, with guys like Jamaal Tinsley, George Hill and Darren Collison being competent at best and at worst “why can’t we get a good point guard on this gods-forsaken team?”

Brogdon was Rookie of the Year in 2016-17. He joined the 50/40/90 shooting club last season, making 50.5 percent of his field goals, 42.6 percent of his threes, and an NBA-best 92.8 percent of his free throws. He also cracked 1,000 points scored for the first time in his career, ending up with 1,001 in total.

Throw in a remarkable .171 Win Shares per 48 minutes and 1.6 Value Over Replacement Player and you have a massive upgrade at the floor general position for Indiana, a guy who is going to feast on the opportunities he gets when the defense has to worry about Domantas Sabonis at the rim and Myles Turner as the stretch 5.

The Pacers have a point guard worthy of the old days again, Pacers fans. Rejoice…and hope Brogdon stays healthy!

If everything breaks just right, the Pacers could get that 55-win season that injuries, a brutal schedule at just the wrong time and Tyreke Evans conspired to deny them last year.

And that’s reason enough to celebrate the dawn of a new season.