August 08, 2024
Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports
Can Tyrese Halliburton and Pascal Siakam lead the Indiana Pacers to long-term title contention?
With much of the Sixers' 2024-25 roster locked in more than a month removed from the start of a franchise-altering free agency, the time has come to evaluate their opposition in the Eastern Conference: of last season's playoff teams in the East, which ones pose the biggest threats to the Sixers, and how do the teams match up with this new-look team?
Up sixth is a team that made a surprising run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year after bolstering their roster by acquiring a star player in a midseason trade: the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers' 2024-25 roster will look much like their group from last season when training camp begins. Of their top dozen players in total minutes last season who finished the season with the team, only one has departed -- backup center Jalen Smith -- and the Pacers had pivoted to using the athletic Isaiah Jackson in his place by the time the playoffs came around anyway. Indiana's summer, summarized:
Added: Johnny Furphy (No. 35 overall pick in NBA Draft), James Wiseman (free agency)
Retained: Pascal Siakam, Obi Toppin, James Johnson
Extended: Andrew Nembhard (three years, $58.6 million)
Lost: Jalen Smith
When the Pacers traded Bruce Brown and three first-round picks to the Toronto Raptors last season to acquire two-time All-Star Pascal Siakam, they were making a massive bet that Siakam would fit well alongside star point guard Tyrese Haliburton and co. and have interest in inking a long-term deal as a free agent during the summer. They won both gambles, as Siakam elevated Indiana's offense and overall ceiling, aiding them in their run to the Eastern Conference Finals, and then agreed to a four-year deal to stick with the Pacers for the long haul.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle will likely open the season with nearly the exact same rotation as the one which guided them during their lengthy playoff run -- with the one exception being the addition of young wing Bennedict Mathurin, who suffered a season-ending injury in the beginning of March.
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Tyrese Haliburton | Andrew Nembhard | Aaron Nesmith | Pascal Siakam | Myles Turner |
| T.J. McConnell | Ben Sheppard | Bennedict Mathurin | Obi Toppin | Isaiah Jackson |
| Kendall Brown | Johnny Furphy | Jarace Walker | James Wiseman |
Mathurin adds some considerable juice as a scorer to Indiana's second unit, which could use one more perimeter player who can get their own shot. Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard look like Indiana's backcourt of the future, with our old friend T.J. McConnell behind them as one of the game's best backup point guards. Aaron Nesmith has established himself as an excellent, tenacious defender with a solid shooting stroke. Myles Turner is one of the rare centers who is actually a very good three-point shooter and rim protector. Last summer, the Pacers hit on two rotation players when they acquired Obi Toppin from the New York Knicks in exchange for two second-round picks and drafted at No. 26 overall.
If one is to nitpick, perhaps one more sturdy wing defender would help the Pacers, who are putting a massive amount of responsibility on Nesmith. But they have three quality ball-handlers at the guard position and a bigger player in Siakam who is comfortable operating as a hub at times and provides a healthy dose of secondary playmaking. Jackson continuing his ascension behind Turner will be key, especially because the longtime Pacers starter at center is currently slated to hit free agency following 2024-25. The wild card here is Jarace Walker, last year's No. 8 overall pick who only played 340 total regular season minutes as a rookie.
Most teams are not equipped to handle Joel Embiid, but that may be especially true for Indiana, as the former NBA MVP has routinely dominated Turner for his entire career. Embiid has quite a few pounds on Turner, and has seemingly always been able to get the Pacers' center into foul trouble within moments of a game beginning. And while Jackson is becoming a quality backup center thanks to his energy and athletic tools, he averaged 8.4 fouls per 100 possessions last season -- he is not someone who can be relied upon in a major role just yet.
The Sixers' largest perceived hole is at the power forward position, where they are expected to start Caleb Martin in the name of versatility while sacrificing some size and muscle. That could leave them liable to big games from a player like Siakam, who has the requisite frame to punish smaller players with his post game or pull-up jumpers in the mid-range area. The Sixers will not attempt this in the regular season, but if the teams met in a playoff series, their best option to defend Siakam is Embiid -- who has drawn the Siakam assignment in many past playoff games against the Raptors.
Fortunately for the Sixers, their roster does have multiple players who can be thrown at Haliburton, including Martin and Kelly Oubre Jr., while the Pacers lack tons of options against Tyrese Maxey unless they utilize Nesmith there -- but if they put Nesmith on Maxey, they would likely be forced to use Siakam against Paul George, and that is not an ideal defensive matchup for Siakam or the Pacers.
Ultimately, most playoff series boil down to talent, and while the new-look Sixers clearly have more of that on their roster than the Pacers do right now, it is not such an enormous gap that Indiana could not overcome it with some combination of hot three-point shooting, injury luck and outlier performances. But barring something unforeseen, the Sixers would very likely be favored over Indiana in a hypothetical seven-game series.
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