Pacers will wreak havoc in the East

[perks-a-beast]

And will be a legitimate threat to the Cavs.

This is what they're rolling with..

Teague
Ellis / Stuckey
George / Miles
Jefferson  /  Young
Turner  /  Allen


You could make a strong argument for George as a top ten NBA player, who is probably as good as anyone at defending LBJ.

Al Jefferson and Monta Ellis are still potent offensive players who can get it going at anytime.

Jeff Teague is one of the most underrated guards in the league on both sides of the floor. He was the 2nd best player, next to Horford, on a ECF team last year.

Thaddeus Young could very likely be one of the best 6th men in the league on this team.

Myles Turner is an absolute stud at stretching the floor and blocking shots. Think Serge Ibaka on roids.

Of course there has yet to be a single game played but it looks like Larry Legend has put together a very good squad. You go, Larry! 

[Snakehead]

Myles Turner is an absolute stud at stretching the floor and blocking shots. Think Serge Ibaka on roids.

ehhhhhhh.....  I haven't seen anything from him that is far superior to Ibaka at his best.

They do have an interesting team.  But you can go at Jefferson and Ellis on defense.  I will be interested to see come the season how they look.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

And will be a legitimate threat to the Cavs.

This is what they're rolling with..

Teague
Ellis / Stuckey
George / Miles
Jefferson  /  Young
Turner  /  Allen


You could make a strong argument for George as a top ten NBA player, who is probably as good as anyone at defending LBJ.

Al Jefferson and Monta Ellis are still potent offensive players who can get it going at anytime.

Jeff Teague is one of the most underrated guards in the league on both sides of the floor. He was the 2nd best player, next to Horford, on a ECF team last year.

Thaddeus Young could very likely be one of the best 6th men in the league on this team.

Myles Turner is an absolute stud at stretching the floor and blocking shots. Think Serge Ibaka on roids.

Of course there has yet to be a single game played but it looks like Larry Legend has put together a very good squad. You go, Larry! 

On what planet is Jeff Teague a better player than Paul Millsap?

[colincb]

And will be a legitimate threat to the Cavs.

This is what they're rolling with..

Teague
Ellis / Stuckey
George / Miles
Jefferson  /  Young
Turner  /  Allen


You could make a strong argument for George as a top ten NBA player, who is probably as good as anyone at defending LBJ.

Al Jefferson and Monta Ellis are still potent offensive players who can get it going at anytime.

Jeff Teague is one of the most underrated guards in the league on both sides of the floor. He was the 2nd best player, next to Horford, on a ECF team last year.

Thaddeus Young could very likely be one of the best 6th men in the league on this team.

Myles Turner is an absolute stud at stretching the floor and blocking shots. Think Serge Ibaka on roids.

Of course there has yet to be a single game played but it looks like Larry Legend has put together a very good squad. You go, Larry! 

On what planet is Jeff Teague a better player than Paul Millsap?

htraE

[Future Celtics Owner]

Myles Turner is an absolute stud at stretching the floor and blocking shots. Think Serge Ibaka on roids.

ehhhhhhh.....  I haven't seen anything from him that is far superior to Ibaka at his best.

They do have an interesting team.  But you can go at Jefferson and Ellis on defense.  I will be interested to see come the season how they look.

Turner is on a 2 year pt plan for his hips, glutes, and gait and has not reached his maximum athletic ability...look at the huge step he took athletically from UT to the Pacers. I predicted that would happen BTW, but he will come back this year playing pretty well. How well, idk, but he has had 2 off-seasons to work on his structural problems and if he continues at the same rate then I will punch a whole in the wall again because Ainge is an idiot for not trading up/making the playoffs that year, and I swore not to bring that up but I still get angry when I see Booker, Lyles and especially Turner doing so well.

[Beat LA]

Honestly, I don't understand the moves for Thaddeus Young, Al Jefferson, and Teague.  I usually agree with Bird, but I think that they would have been better off keeping 20 and using it on Levert, trading Ellis for Afflalo, signing Lance Stephenson, and then bringing in some undrafted free agents, etc. Ellis and George don't fit, especially on defense.  PG can play off of Monta but not the other way around, if that makes any sense.  I'm also surprised that Larry didn't go after Rondo.

The problem that Bird has is that he has a cheap owner, so he's never going to be able to field a team in a manner similar to the other contenders.  He has to do it through cheap contracts and drafting well, and he certainly did the latter by taking Niang at 51, imo, but I'm just not sure about the direction of their team in terms of style of play, I guess.  I'm fine with trading George Hill, although, perhaps it would have been better to have kept him and use him in his proper role, imo, as a third guard, if Larry had gone out and gotten Stephenson back.  If the latter had been on the Pacers last year, they definitely would have beaten the Raptors, and maybe in the form of a sweep, given the ability of George and Stephenson to play off of one another so effectively, and they're both great defensive players, as well, obviously.  All that they would have needed, at that point, would have been a center, imo, but idk who they'd be able to get, and Hibbert wasn't going to come back, anyway, imo.

[crimson_stallion]

And will be a legitimate threat to the Cavs.

This is what they're rolling with..

Teague
Ellis / Stuckey
George / Miles
Jefferson  /  Young
Turner  /  Allen


You could make a strong argument for George as a top ten NBA player, who is probably as good as anyone at defending LBJ.

Al Jefferson and Monta Ellis are still potent offensive players who can get it going at anytime.

Jeff Teague is one of the most underrated guards in the league on both sides of the floor. He was the 2nd best player, next to Horford, on a ECF team last year.

Thaddeus Young could very likely be one of the best 6th men in the league on this team.

Myles Turner is an absolute stud at stretching the floor and blocking shots. Think Serge Ibaka on roids.

Of course there has yet to be a single game played but it looks like Larry Legend has put together a very good squad. You go, Larry! 

Are you serious, or is this a joke?

Ellis is declining towards "6th man" status, Al Jefferson has fallen off a cliff and is half the player he once was, and Turner is (so far) nobody. Teague and George are pretty much the only guys on that roster who are clear starting caliber players.

They will be better then last year because Teague is an upgrade over Hill, but last year they were below the Raptors, the Celtics, the Hornets, the Heat and the Hawks.

Out of those teams:
- The Raptors will improve slightly with a healthy DeMarre Carrol
- The Celtics will improve significantly with the addition of Horford and emergence of Rozier
- The Hornets have lost Lin and Jefferson, so they might drop off a bit
- The Hawks will improve with Howard but drop with Hill, so should be about the same
- The Heat will suck, so Indiana will be better

So basically the Pacers aren't going to be the Cavs, Raptors or Celtics.  They will stuggle to beat the Hawks and Hornets.  They will beat the heat.

I suspect they'll finish somewhere between the 4th seed and 6th seed.

But then there could also be surprises by teams like Detroit, Orlando and Minnesota - all should be better this year, and all could be potential playoff team.s 

Chicago is a dark horse too.  I don't think they'll be a contender, but they could easily fall in that 4-6 seed range.   As long as they stay healthy they are going to be competitive. 

It's going to be a very competitive East - much moreso then what we saw last seasons.  There is no certainty that Indiana even makes the playoffs, to be honest.

[tarheelsxxiii]

I think they'll be tough, too. They have firepower, George as their rock, and Turner's potential.

Interesting to see how Al fits with what looks like a fast-paced team, though. And with what they've got now in Teague, a two-way player may be better suited to start at the 2.

[moiso]

That roster looks like the definition of average to me.  They have George, Teague, and Young in their primes.  Ellis and Jefferson are declining, and Myles Turner isn't  near the allstar level like a lot of people seem to think.

[Bucketgetter]

And will be a legitimate threat to the Cavs.

This is what they're rolling with..

Teague
Ellis / Stuckey
George / Miles
Jefferson  /  Young
Turner  /  Allen


You could make a strong argument for George as a top ten NBA player, who is probably as good as anyone at defending LBJ.

Al Jefferson and Monta Ellis are still potent offensive players who can get it going at anytime.

Jeff Teague is one of the most underrated guards in the league on both sides of the floor. He was the 2nd best player, next to Horford, on a ECF team last year.

Thaddeus Young could very likely be one of the best 6th men in the league on this team.

Myles Turner is an absolute stud at stretching the floor and blocking shots. Think Serge Ibaka on roids.

Of course there has yet to be a single game played but it looks like Larry Legend has put together a very good squad. You go, Larry! 

Are you serious, or is this a joke?

Ellis is declining towards "6th man" status, Al Jefferson has fallen off a cliff and is half the player he once was, and Turner is (so far) nobody. Teague and George are pretty much the only guys on that roster who are clear starting caliber players.

They will be better then last year because Teague is an upgrade over Hill, but last year they were below the Raptors, the Celtics, the Hornets, the Heat and the Hawks.

Out of those teams:
- The Raptors will improve slightly with a healthy DeMarre Carrol
- The Celtics will improve significantly with the addition of Horford and emergence of Rozier
- The Hornets have lost Lin and Jefferson, so they might drop off a bit
- The Hawks will improve with Howard but drop with Hill, so should be about the same
- The Heat will suck, so Indiana will be better

So basically the Pacers aren't going to be the Cavs, Raptors or Celtics.  They will stuggle to beat the Hawks and Hornets.  They will beat the heat.

I suspect they'll finish somewhere between the 4th seed and 6th seed.

But then there could also be surprises by teams like Detroit, Orlando and Minnesota - all should be better this year, and all could be potential playoff team.s 

Chicago is a dark horse too.  I don't think they'll be a contender, but they could easily fall in that 4-6 seed range.   As long as they stay healthy they are going to be competitive. 

It's going to be a very competitive East - much moreso then what we saw last seasons.  There is no certainty that Indiana even makes the playoffs, to be honest.

Not in our conference.

[passesofftodj]

To me Paul George is clearly a top 10 player in the league.

[Walter Moss]

To me Nate McMillan is a huge downgrade from Vogel and their newcomers are just a role players. It will be great result for this Pacers team to fight for a 6-8 spot.

[A Future of Stevens]

To me Nate McMillan is a huge downgrade from Vogel and their newcomers are just a role players. It will be great result for this Pacers team to fight for a 6-8 spot.

I agree on the Nate McMillan part. I think Teague will be a huge upgrade for them over Hill. Unlike the OP I think you put thad in the starting lineup, because Jefferson could never really play the 4, let alone at the current shell of his former self position he is in now. Have Thad run around on the perimeter, and let Myles Turner kick butt on defense in the paint. On offense I like that pairing also. Thad is like a hustle guy you can have crashing the boards when turner works out of the high post. Also both bigs could potentially stretch the floor to allow George room to kill other teams in an iso-drive situation.

Jefferson/Miles/Allen/stuckey is serviceable atleast on the bench, they just need a veteran bench pg to set these guys up. I think that is what seperates them from 3-6 and 6-8. Well that and not having a vogel level coach.

[GreenCoffeeBean]

They made some great signings but Vogel for MacMillan is a head scratcher. How do you cite wanting to play modern, up tempo basketball as a reason for firing Vogel and then hire MacMillan? Also, when another team immediately snatches up the coach you just fired, you probably made a mistake.

[Evantime34]

All their moves point towards the Pacers wanting to play faster. The Celtics thrive when the style of play is fast a chaotic.

They are essentially trying to beat us at our own game, and that's why I expect the Celtics to blow the doors off of them when they play.