dwtaylor1055

For me I am a little concerned about the Pacers. I will start being real concerned if they are not at least 5-5 through the first 10 games. Chemistry should be fixed by game 10(roughly 12% of the season would be completed A few thoughts/opinions: Not a fan of TJ playing over Aaron Holiday. Yes Holiday had a bad first game BUT Holiday has the potential to be really good, lots better than McConnell. McConnell does little things off and on which I can see why he's playing. McConnell does NOT move the needle in terms of it pushing us past the first round. Holiday gives us the best chance to help us out of the two get to the 2nd rd out of the two. If McConnell plays all year, then leaves during FA we are back in the same situation saying "Can Aaron holiday handle the backup pg minutes"? Goga needs to play, enough with not playing young talent(Goga and Aaron). Myles and Sabonis cannot sustain 35 plus minutes for 82 games. Goga will have some ups and downs BUT he needs to play. Leaf is downright bad. The bench is dreadful with lack of scoring.

End of Dec, early Jan 2020

Brogdon and Oladipo best defensive backcourt this upcoming season assuming Vics health checks out?

Pacers media day today

Agreed. Same for Otto. However if they viewed Otto as a true center piece, I could see that deal given his age.

Malcolm Brogdon for President, his interview was spot on yesterday. Brogdon is all in with making this team better, regardless of what it takes. Loves the organization, says team has worked very hard during offseason. Says Leaf is dominating in pick up games. When Victor returns, he takes back over his alpha dog role. TJ McConnell says Aaron Holiday has been a great leader this offseason. This team can be very special and it can start as early as this upcoming season

Some notes from a podcast with Indy Star writer J Michael(Covers the pacers): The front office were presented a deal from Memphis for Aaron Holiday and a 1st rd pick for Mike Conley, Herb Simon and front office denied the trade Front office had a deal in place for Otto Porter Jr, Herb Simon denied the trade Memphis wanted Myles Turner in return for their 4th pick in the 1st rd, we countered with Sabonis and Memphis said no Offered Sabonis for the 10th pick but was rejected. So the front office likes Holiday but viewed Conley as a better win now chance. Glad this was denied. If we would have acquired Porter(due $100 mil YIKES) I would have thrown up! Glad we didn't give up Turner for the #4 pick. To me the Pacers view Turner as more valuable, especially given they never offered Turner for the 10th pick whereas they did for Saboins. So basically we got Brogdon(5 years younger and $10 mil cheaper than Conley) and Warren(just as effective as Otto Porter at much less money if not a touch better). By acquiring Brogdon, this pushed Lambs interest in Indy(said he wanted to play with someone like Brogdon). Chad Buchannan was on with JMV yesterday and the major take away I took was they are viewing this upcoming season as three smaller seasons and putting an emphasis that when Victor returns, Sabonis and Myles will work as a pair even better than what it will to start the season. First stretch with current team without Victor and seeing how the pairing of Myles and Sabonis does Acclimating Victor back into the rotation with the team Victor is at/near full strength for the stretch run to end the year.

Nice add! Like it! Don’t know a lot about him but looks like he’s still moving up and getting better!

I'll keep the flag off and keep my Pacers flag attached!

Perfect weather for a visit. If he wants to visit Lake Monroe I'd be more than happy to give him a tour on my boat.

JaKarr Sampson signed by Pacers today to a 1 yr vet min contract. 6'9" forward, more likely camp competition(high motor and rebounder from what I have gathered). Signed with a China team earlier this month or last month I believe so we shall see how he pans out with making the team.

and the best fans on the net too!

Some NBA notes/news recently: Pacers - Kevin McHale has been working out with Myles Turner lately on his post game. McHale says turner has a good jump shot however his A$$ basically needs to improve on the block. McHale helped Kevin Garnett and Al Jefferson to name a few(they turned out pretty good). Pacers - Rubio was sold on Indy as his free agent destination until Bojan signed with Utah(Both are very good friends). Questioned his fit if Bojan wasn't going to be a Pacer. Boston/Philly - Saw some reports suggesting that Boston believes Philly tampered with Horford prior to start of free agency. Clippers/Knicks - Marcus Morris agent advised him to turn down a 3 yr $41 mil deal from Clippers at start of free agency. Guess that explains why he fired his agent. I'd fire him too!

That is correct they did, more so to fill the training invite list and possibly becoming a two way player for Indy. Brian Bowan is one of the two players currently committed to a two way spot. The 7 ft center is Amida Brimah.

Justin Holiday to Pacers on a 1 yr deal at approx. $4.3 - $4.8 mil. A very solid pickup, 3 & D type player that can play either SG or SF. Depth chart might look like something below with Vic out: Starters: Brogdon/Lamb/Warren/Sabonis/Turner Bench: A. Holiday or McConnell/J. Holiday/McDerrmott/Leaf/Goga Deep Reserves: Sumner/Bowan(2 way player) The Pacers have very good depth to help make up for Victor being out for awhile to stay contending within the top 5 IMO. Yes once Vic returns, Lamb slides to the bench as backup SG. Then it'd look like this below with Vic back: Starters: Brogdon/Oladipo/Warren/Sabonis/Turner Bench: A. Holiday or McConnell/Lamb/J. Holiday or McDerrmott/Leaf/Goga Deep Reserves: Sumner/Bowan(2 way player)

1 - Kawhi Leonard(Best two way player in the league hands down. Elite defense and can score at ease without jacking up 20 shots a game on average. Shows no emotion which to me he's the silent assassin) 2 - Lebron James(In terms of popularity Lebron today would be #1, however Lebron is getting older BUT still a top 3 player in the game. Can get to the rim, still has the refs on a leash when he wants too, and defends pretty good when he wants too which is not always the case) 3 - Paul George(Yes his supporting cast in Indy helped him become who he is today and his success with making the playoffs and competing in the playoffs compared to Davis and his supporting cast in the big easy however PG WAS the two way player the Pacers needed to compete with Miami in the conference finals and the playoffs. The run fell short but it was a good run with PG in Indy). 4- Anthony Davis(He could be the most dominant big in the league if he wanted too, however his supporting cast has hurt him while in New Orleans. This is why I have him lowest of the four. He is a hell of a player but I still think he could be even better than he currently is. He's quiet like Kawhi but not the silent assassin). Just my two cents.

I could easily see why people think that. If Giannis doesn't improve his outside shooting he may fall into that trap as well to some extent

Yeah Giannis could be so much better if he ever develops outside shooting. If he could become a respectable outside shooter oh my that is scary just thinking about. One could argue that Embiid could be the 2nd best player in the East if not the first best player if his health/fitness/strength could improve like you mentioned. Simmons is a really great player but if he struggles with shooting outside of 7 ft from the rim I cannot imagine giving some $170 mil across 5 years.

Agree. Denver I think is too low. Bucks top 5 guys - Giannis/Middleton/Bledsoe/Lopez/George Hill 76ers top 5 guys - Embiid/Simmons/Harris/Horford/Richardson Giannis is the best player in the East. The 76ers then have the 2nd, 3rd and 4th and maybe even 5th best players out of these two teams. Will be very interesting to watch these two battle it out for the top two spots as well as spots 3 through 6. Factor in the Pacers(Assuming Oladipo is back to full strength) and Celtics in the equation below and it gets real interesting. Bucks clearly have the best player in the East. I have highlighted what I think is the top two players on each team. One can argue Turner instead of Brogdon. Bucks top 5 guys - Giannis/Middleton/Bledsoe/Lopez/George Hill 76ers top 5 guys - Embiid/Simmons/Harris/Horford/Richardson Celtics top 5 guys - Walker/Tatum/Hayward/Brown/Kanter Pacers top 5 guys - Oladipo/Brogdon/Turner/Sabonis/Lamb

Based on BetOnline.ag, here are the over/under for win totals this upcoming season as of today(top 8/9 teams in each conference) below: East: Mil 54.5 Philly 53.5 Ind 48.5 Bos 48.5 Nets 45.5 Raptors 45.5 Miami 42.5 Orl 41.5 West: LAC 55.5 UTAH 52.5 LAL 51.5 HOU 51.5 DEN 50.5 GSW 47.5 Blazers 44.5 Spurs 43.5 DAL 41.5 I think the Pacers can be a 3 seed if they can play well until Vic returns AND Vic returns close or to full strength. I think the Pacers and Celtics will battle for the 3 and 4 seed this year with Brooklyn being the 5 seed.

Jazz should be ahead of both Portland and Rockets. Raptors and Heat are too high. West: Nuggets/Clippers/Jazz/Lakers/Portland/Rockets/GS/Spurs East: Bucks/Sixers/Nets/Pacers/Celtics/Heat/Raptors

With the contracts both PG and Kawhi have, it allows them both to sign a supermax or whatever it is as early as 2021 to the MAX money that is available. Smart by them, risky for the Clippers to put all their eggs in these two especially with the amount of draft picks that were traded for PG. BUT as long as the Clippers don't fail(I would say the Clippers next two seasons would be viewed as a failure if they do not make at least the WCF's), I could easily see them both resigning with the Clippers in 2021.

Additional notes from the press conference today with Brogdon: Simon helped seal the deal with the Bucks. Pritchard thought they had a 10% chance to get him, once Simon jumped on the phone that went up to about 90% chance to get Brogdon. Brogdon was on atop the board for Pacers Free Agency plans/want list from basically when their season ended. Kevin Pritchard considers the Brogdon addition as a "EPIC" day for the Indiana Pacers and a franchise Brogdon deal was a last minute deal, audible as Pritchard referred to as Foundation of many good players in Indy not just having two superstars Brogdon was excited about how Simon went above to help get him to Indy Brogdon thinks Indy has great building blocks in Vic/Sabonis/Myles Brogdons agent wanted him to go to Indy when he entered the draft. Felt this was his best location and best fit Brogdon said during his workout with Pacers prior to his predraft workout that he wanted to come to Indy due to best fit Nate envisioned the PG spot the most critical spot to fill in free agency this offseason Nate raves about Vic and Brogdon backcourt together Brogdon checks all the boxes that the Pacers expect as a player Brogdon has won Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the year and ACC player of the year When Nate found out Brogdon was coming to Indy, Nate yelled and screamed excitement as he exited an airplane lol(Most excited Pritchard has seen Nate since he's been here) Brogdon very very big into community work, especially 3rd world countries like Africa. Wants to move into non-profit sector after NBA Hoops 2.0 foundation which Brogdon has created to help fund less privileged Brogdon looks as Indiana as the original basketball state, mentions Bob Knight and IU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wants to help the community as much as possible The draft picks were a must to get Brogdon, those extra 2nd round picks we traded for were enough to get the deal sealed Pritchard views Brogdon as another foundational player to go along with Victor/Myles/Sabonis Pritchard has been proud of last two years, more excited about this upcoming season than past two years Nicknamed "The President" Brogdon feels PG is his best position to influence decisions on the floor and lead. Views his primary strength is high IQ and versatility Vic reached out to Brogdon right after deal was completed. Brogdon wants to help Vic be an all star every year, make him a superstar. Brogdons goal is to give the teammates for freedom and help them reach their potential Once they determined they had Brogdon, it allowed them to sign Lamb. Warren trade enabled this them to deal for Brogdon. Trickle affect for later moves(Lamb and McConnell) This guy will flourish here with the Pacers. Very excited to have him here for 4 seasons and hopefully more.

Brogdon nailed the welcome press conference this morning. Wants to make everyone around him better, Brogdon mentioned how he wanted to play for the Indiana Pacers, wanted to play for Nate, wants to make Victor, Sabonis, Myles all better and wanted to be apart of a culture that isn't about I, but about WE as a TEAM. Brogdon stated that he wanted to sign with Indiana during free agency, so the interest was there from both sides. Mentioned he's going to Vegas to train and workout with Victor as he had very high praise for Victor. I cannot wait to watch these two play side by side. Also mentioned how much he is involved in the community and plans to be involved here in Indy. Pacers have engaged Sabonis and his agent about a contract extension.

Nate confirmed 19-20 starting lineup will be: Brogdon/Lamb/Warren/Sabonis/Turner. This will be a very tall and long lineup! All except Sabonis are respectable 3 pt threats.