Derek Schultz: Regardless of wins and losses, the Pacers’ season was a success

If you look up the 2022-2023 NBA standings, you’ll see the Indiana Pacers lost a dozen more games than they won. A mediocre 35-47 record placed them 11th in the Eastern Conference, meaning they failed to even qualify for the 10-team play-in round of the NBA’s postseason.

Indiana fell just two losses short of securing top-five NBA Draft Lottery odds for the second consecutive season, a dubious distinction for a franchise that didn’t finish in the bottom third of the league for over 30 years (1989-2021).

On the surface, that script does not read like anything close to an adequate season, much less a successful one. In our current political climate, perhaps asserting otherwise will get this column flagged as fake news or labeled as Pacers-affiliated media by Twitter. (I can assure you that neither IBJ nor I were paid by Pacers Sports & Entertainment for this content.)

As with any discussion, objectively evaluating the Pacers’ 2022-2023 season requires a healthy dose of context, but you don’t have to stare hard to see a clear, upward trajectory for the franchise.

Let’s start with this year’s record. Thirty-five wins might not jump off the page, but it’s a double-digit improvement from the Las Vegas oddsmakers preseason win total expectation, which was set at 23-1/2 in October.

The on-court progress was especially evident during a promising 23-18 first half, a mark that had the Pacers firmly in the playoff field before Tyrese Haliburton’s knee injury quickly turned the team’s carriage into a pumpkin. Outside of that miserable mid-January to mid-February stretch, where they dropped 16 of 18 games, the Pacers played winning basketball (33-31). That level of competitiveness was not expected for a team just one year removed from last season’s franchise teardown, with the trades of Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert and Malcolm Brogdon.

That competitiveness didn’t nuke the Pacers’ draft chances, either. They currently sit with the seventh-best odds at landing the No. 1 overall pick (6.8%) and a roughly 1-in-3 shot at cracking the NBA Draft’s top four (29.4%). Being relegated to watching pingpong balls instead of playoff basketball this time of year always stings, but it’s probably the better alternative to being meaningless play-in-round fodder. Pacers President Kevin Pritchard even admitted that fact in his postseason press conference.

“I was really sad at the end of this year,” Pritchard said. “A couple of nights ago, I was in the shower, and I was really getting emotional. I was like, ‘Why am I getting so damn emotional?’ The reality is, this team was so fun to be around. I wanted them to get a taste of the playoffs, but I’m not sure it was the right thing.”

The “right” thing for the Pacers’ situation was to increase individual growth without decreasing lottery odds—a delicate balance that Indiana deftly struck.

Starting with Haliburton, the new face of the franchise, we saw exciting individual improvement across the board. At just 23 years old, the Pacers guard became the first player in league history to average 20 points and 10 assists while shooting 40% from 3-point range in a single season.

The Pacers’ rookie class was tantalizing as well, with Bennedict Mathurin posting the second-best scoring average (16.7 points per game) among first-year players and Andrew Nembhard becoming one of the team’s best facilitators and defenders. First-round-pick castoffs Aaron Nesmith and Jordan Nwora flourished with their new team as Nesmith turned in a career-best season in year three and Nwora took advantage of major minutes over the season’s final two months.

Did I mention Myles Turner? The Pacers’ polarizing 27-year-old veteran finally kicked the trade-rumor mill to the curb. His trademark rim protection continued while his offensive efficiency took off, placing him among the league’s best big men in true shooting percentage (65.1%). Turner was rewarded with a front-loaded, $60 million contract extension, which should keep him in Indianapolis at least two more years.

Turner and Mathurin have the makings of foundational pieces behind Haliburton, who the Pacers firmly believe is their long-awaited franchise player. Having “The Guy” is the most important domino to fall in the quest for legitimate championship contention, and the Pacers are pinning their hopes on Hali’s shoulders. Nembhard, Nesmith, Nwora, 21-year-old Isaiah Jackson and perhaps even Jalen Smith could be part of the team’s nucleus moving forward, too. A likely top-10 draft selection adds another piece to the puzzle.

All of this leads to an exciting offseason, where every Pacer that matters is under contract and the team own five total draft picks and cap space flexibility—a formula that could lead to significant trade possibilities.

“There’s some opportunities for us to look at our draft picks and cap space and maybe make big packages and go after some players,” Pritchard said. “I think we’ll be pretty aggressive in the marketplace. I’m itchy. We have this unique player, Tyrese [Haliburton], who has put us way ahead of schedule. We won 25 games, we won 35 games. Can we get to 45? Can we take that to a bigger team?”

There is still substantial growth needed for a team that couldn’t crack the watered-down NBA postseason. Further development is also still required for a roster full of key players who are barely above the legal drinking age. It’s fine to be disappointed that the team could not give playoff basketball to their fanbase this year. However, this season did provide Blue and Gold fans something of value moving forward: hope. That word hasn’t been kicked around here since Victor Oladipo’s injuries (and ego) and a slew of first round exits zapped the short-lived excitement stemming from the surprise 2017-18 squad. Now, with a new, high-ceiling franchise star, several pillars of a developing core in place, and a stack of young assets, fans can have realistic hope that this season’s step forward can lead to meaningful basketball in the Pacers’ near future.•

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From Peyton Manning’s peak with the Colts to the Pacers’ most recent roster makeover, Schultz has talked about it all as a sports personality in Indianapolis for more than 15 years. Besides his written work with IBJ, he’s active in podcasting and show hosting.