New champion among 10 bold predictions for 2019-20 NBA season
8. Pacers will contend for top-four seed in the East
Everything was going right for the Indiana Pacers in 2018-19. In fact, they raced out to a 25-12 start entering the turn of the new calendar year. Unfortunately, the Pacers would lose All-Star guard Victor Oladipo to a season-ending quad injury. At the time of the injury, the Pacers had the third-best record in the East.
Despite Oladipo’s absence, the Pacers finished the season as the No. 5 seed and were subsequently swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics.
In addition to that, the Pacers lost a couple of key players during the offseason. Bojan Bogdanovic – who became the team’s leading scorer following Oladipo’s departure – signed with the Utah Jazz. Meanwhile, Thaddeus Young, their starting power forward, inked a three-year deal with the Chicago Bulls and Darren Collison opted to retire from the NBA.
Despite the losses of three key players who kept the team afloat during the second half of the season, all hope is not lost for this ball club. For starters, the Pacers traded for Phoenix Suns forward T.J. Warren – who has averaged 19.6 and 18 points per contest, respectively, over the past two seasons. He also shot an efficient 42.8 percent from 3-point range last season.
Next up, Indiana also added Malcolm Brogdon (via sign-and-trade with the Bucks) and former Charlotte Hornets guard, Jeremy Lamb in free agency. Brogdon averaged 15.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per outing during the regular season and was a key cog for the Bucks during their run to the Eastern Conference finals.
Lamb posted career highs in points (15.3), rebounds (5.5) and steals (1.1). Additionally, Lamb knocked down 34.8 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
The Pacers will have a different look to their roster next season, but with the return of Oladipo, their offseason acquisitions and what should be a deeper bench, the Pacers will be in the hunt for one of the top four seeds in the East.