The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We break down the top questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and fantasy outlooks for all 30 teams. Enjoy!

INDIANA PACERS

End of 2023-24

Off-season moves

• Additions: James Wiseman, Johnny Furphy, Tristan Newton, Enrique Freeman

• Subtractions: Jalen Smith, Doug McDermott

• Full roster

The big question: Was this just a blip on the radar or the start of something real?

Most of the offseason talk about which Eastern team has the best chance of displacing the Celtics has focused on the Knicks and 76ers, following their respective big wing hits. But maybe we should think about the team that… you know… actually played in Boston in the conference finals?

It’s fair to have some skepticism about the Pacers repeating a playoff run that saw them beat a Bucks team without Giannis Antetokounmpo (and Damian Lillard for two games) and a Knicks team that ended up being a MASH unit before they were defeated by the Pacers Celtics. However, this formulation leaves Indiana short-changed.

Despite postseason injuries, the Pacers beat the Bucks four times in five tries during the regular season, scoring 122 points per 100 possessions. Running out of gas as Indiana forced them to put their foot down, the Knicks survived Game 3 and avoided elimination in Game 6 before winning on the road in Game 7 while posting the best team-wide shooting performance in NBA playoff history. And while Boston eliminated them in the ECF, it’s worth noting that the Pacers were leading or tied in the final minute in three of the four games. Despite a defense that couldn’t stop the nosebleeds and the fact that All-NBA maestro Tyrese Haliburton missed the last two games, it was the Pacers right there.

This is of limited importance in a results-oriented company; As the prophet Dominic Toretto told us, one man’s “almost had” is another man’s “never had your car.” But while the pessimist looks at the Pacers and sees the 2020-21 Atlanta Hawks on the verge of falling into an unbalanced stalemate, a more optimistic type might see a team that made it to the final four, although there’s still a long way to go is not in its final form.

The Pacers are bringing back every player who has logged at least 100 postseason minutes, six of whom are 25 or younger – a pretty rich source of untapped player development potential. (That doesn’t include their 2022 and 2023 lottery picks: Bennedict Mathurin, who was shelved in March with a torn labrum, and Jarace Walker, who is stuck behind Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin on the depth chart.) They had the East’s fourth-best record and third-best net rating after making the blockbuster trade for Siakam in mid-January, and was playing at a 50-win pace after the All-Star break.

They were able to do this as Haliburton was clearly at least somewhat hampered by hamstring and back injuries, giving hope for even better results from a full-strength player who was arguably the NBA’s best offensive player in the first half. Now they get a full season of the Haliburton-Siakam partnership that began to fray late in the regular season before paying off in significant ways in the playoffs. Indiana outscored its opponents by 79 points in 383 postseason minutes with its two All-Stars sharing the court, scoring a record 125.5 points per 100.

With the benefit of a full summer and training camp to work on not just this pairing, but also one of the league’s deepest backcourts – Haliburton, newly extended playoff aces Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell, a healthy Mathurin, the up-and-coming Ben Sheppard – Head Coach Rick, Tinkering Carlisle might have come up with an even more potent, misery-inducing attacking machine. Considering the last iteration landed in the top 6 (inhale deeply) Offensive efficiency, assist rate, turnover rate, effective field goal percentage, pace of play, second chance points, fast break points And Dots in the paint (cleansing exhalation)that should be a terribly discouraging proposition for opposing defenses.

Perhaps equally daunting: the challenge of finding new schematic answers to improve a defense that ranked 28th, 26th and 24th in points per possession allowed over the last three seasons and 22nd in the league after the Siakam transfer NBA lay. (The silver lining? The arrow points up!)

There are some Defensive talent in the squad – physical and lively wings Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith; experienced rim protector Myles Turner; Walker, who may be exactly the kind of lean and versatile 4 Indiana needs – but probably not an “above average” uniform plant. However, the beauty of a world-beating offense is that this may not have to be the case. If Carlisle and Co. can just find a viable enough cover for the Siakam-Turner pairing – one that also mitigates the damage caused by the opponents’ sustained targeting of Haliburton – to equalize Approach Then we might no longer look at last spring’s run as a flash in the pan, but as the first spark that heralds the beginning of a bright, hot new era in Indiana basketball.

Best case scenario

Haliburton stays healthy throughout and leads the Pacers to not only the best offense in the league, but one of the best in NBA history. With Turner and Siakam developing better chemistry and the young wings stepping up at the point of attack, Carlisle is able to construct a scheme that manages to continue to limit 3-point shots without having by far the most rim attacks in the game league, allowing Indiana to settle somewhere between 15th and 20th in defensive efficiency – a recipe for well over 50 wins, home-field advantage in Round 1 and another strong playoff run.

When everything falls apart

Carlisle can’t get the personnel deficiencies under control enough to prevent the Pacers from permanently going out of business and the defense from slipping into the bottom five. As good as this offense can be, even if Haliburton misses time again – they posted a top-six finish when he wasn’t on the field last season, and their fleet of complementary ballplayers should be even better – that is just too big you ask, especially in April and May. Indiana avoids the play-in but bows out in Round 1 to a fuller, better-balanced opponent as questions grow louder about how to build a championship-caliber defense around Haliburton.

Fantasy spin

As one of the fastest and most efficient basketball units last season, the Pacers turned heads as a solid hub for fantasy production. Despite battling injuries, Haliburton played in 69 games and averaged at least 20 points and 10 assists for the second straight year. He’s an easy first-rounder in fantasy drafts.

Turner is still an effective shot blocker in the fourth round, while Siakam is a solid 20-7-4. I prefer Turner over Siakam in the category leagues because Siakam’s defensive numbers and free throw rate are declining. In the points leagues, choose Siakam.

Two late risers I like are Nesmith and Nembhard. Both are efficient on the field, strong defensively and are reasonably priced. Mathurin is a real microwave oven, but he has yet to prove himself as a viable fantasy player outside of scoring. — Dan Titus

Schedule 2024-25

They just won 47 with Haliburton on a minutes restriction and/or a three-month limit, half a season from Siakam and a rotation full of young guys just starting to get their feet wet. I would take that over.