The Indiana Pacers just a lot of stability at a time teams need it most.
When they’re good.
The fact got lost during a late-season collapse and near 1-8 playoffs upset, but the Pacers had a darn good year. They finished 56-26, the East’s best record, and reached their second straight conference Finals.
Most winning teams try to keep that good thing going.
By their own volition and bad fortune, the Pacers can’t – at least not as it was constructed last season. Their minutes leader, Paul George, is out for the season with a horrific leg injury. Lance Stephenson, No. 2 in minutes, signed with the Hornets.
No other team projects to go all season without its two minutes leaders from last year, though that could obviously change before the season begins.
From 2012-13 to 2013-14, four teams lost their two minutes leaders:
- Dallas Mavericks (O.J. Mayo and Darren Collison)
- Milwaukee Bucks (Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (Luke Ridnour and Andrei Kirilenko)
- Utah Jazz (Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap)
None of the four made the playoffs won a playoff game in 2012-13, making their willingness to turn over understandable.
But the Pacers are headed into this big change at the top after a strong season – and that hasn’t gone well historically.
Since the NBA-ABA merger, just three teams have reached the conference finals and then lost its two minutes leaders before the next season:
- 2004 Los Angeles Lakers (Gary Payton and Shaquille O’Neal)
- 1999 Chicago Bulls (Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman)
- 1980 Seattle SuperSonics (Gus Williams and Dennis Johnson)
None of the three even made the playoffs the following season
Earlier today, Kurt wrote a good article about the challenges the Pacers will face on the court this season. A significantly larger role for Roy Hibbert isn’t exactly inspiring, and it’s unclear how much of a burden David West and George Hill can carry at this point.
The present for a team like Indiana is troublesome.
So is the history.
