Ranking the 10 championship-less NBA teams by closeness to title

Believe it or not, Reggie Miller never won a title with the Indiana Pacers (or at all). Or Jermaine O’Neal. Or Paul George. Indiana is beginning to piece together a future that could include a title one day.

This season, there were brief signs of life for the Pacers. They were more competitive than many expected the team to be, even though they still fell short of the postseason.

A big reason for the pluckiness of the Pacers was Tyrese Haliburton, the big addition in the trade that sent Domantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings. Haliburton is a superstar in the making, able to do it all on the court. He should be the next in a lineage of franchise cornerstones for Indiana.

The rest of the roster could use some work, especially with the long-term uncertainty surrounding center Myles Turner. But the Indiana front office has developed a reputation for being shrewd and developing solid contributors. The team has plenty of draft capital in the coming years, plus one of the sport’s better coaches in Rick Carlisle.

The Pacers have toiled in mediocrity for some time, last making a remarkable run with those teams that went toe-to-toe with LeBron James roughly a decade ago. If the Pacers can put the pedal to the mettle, they can start making postseason pushes in no time.