Breaking Down How Pacers Built Their Potential Championship Squad

Myles Turner is the longest tenured Indiana Pacer by far, being drafted 11th overall back in 2015. He has been an elite big man for the team with his significant combination of outside shooting and rim protection.

He is the third-highest drafted player on the team, with only two players being selected in the top 10 by the Pacers.

Those two players are Bennedict Mathurin (sixth overall) and Jarace Walker (eighth overall). Neither are starters, but Mathurin is a great bench option and Walker is a solid end-of-bench piece with potential to be more.

Besides T.J. McConnell being signed to a two-year, $7 million deal in 2019, most of the team was built starting in 2021. The team hired Rick Carlisle as head coach, then traded away Domantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings for Tyrese Haliburton. That trade has looked like a steal ever since.

The other most significant trade the team made was for Pascal Siakam. They gave up Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, and three first-round picks to get him, another trade the team seamingly won.

The Pacers also acquired Aaron Nesmith from the Boston Celtics for Malcolm Brogdon, and acquired Obi Toppin from the New York Knicks for second-round picks.

The biggest steal of the whole process of building this team might be drafting Andrew Nembhard 31st overall. He has been huge for the team in each of their playoff runs, serving as a great secondary ball-handler, scorer, and primary defender.

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He embodies the ideal role-playing guard, and even steps up his game in the playoffs. Overall, he has been worth way more than the second-round pick he was.

In hindsight, President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard put together a team built for the playoffs. It has some star power in Haliburton and Siakam, but also has great role players who fit well with anybody. The best part of the roster is it has no weaknesses, a significant advantage in the playoffs.

It will be interesting to see if the Pacers can surpass last year's finish and reach the NBA finals this year.

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