As we turn our wandering eye to the 2020-21 NBA season, which players won’t be returning to the Indiana Pacers next season?
Nobody wants the 2019-20 NBA season to be canceled, but the Indiana Pacers especially have a case for wanting the season to resume. Prior to the season’s pause, the Pacers racked up a 39-26 record, tied with the Philadelphia 76ers for fifth in the Eastern Conference.
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Indiana may have been on the verge of hitting their stride, though. The team was 7-3 in their last ten games. Victor Oladipo was still getting his legs underneath him; he only played in 13 games this season, but his most recent one featured a 27-point performance, a season-high for the guard.
Additionally, a resumption of the season now might come at a critical time, as Malcolm Brogdon appears to be fully healed from the left leg muscle tear he suffered at the beginning of March. The Pacers core would be healthy and ready if there was an abbreviated regular season that dove straight into the postseason.
That’s still a possibility, but like most things in professional sports, it’s up in the air due to the coronavirus pandemic. Regardless of how this NBA season concludes, the Pacers will still be faced with big decisions ahead of the 2020 offseason.
The franchise isn’t expected to have any cap space for free agency after bringing in Brogdon, T.J. Warren and Jeremy Lamb last offseason. Their cap situation may even necessitate a trade of one of their core players.
Here are three players who aren’t likely returning to the Pacers next season.