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Tim BontempsESPN
INDIANAPOLIS – In a quiet moment after testing's end Thursday afternoon, Thaddeus Young, Indiana Pacers' striker, asked a question: "Do you think, even for a moment, what would this show look like? series against the Boston Celtics if Victor Oladipo – who was put away with a quad tendon rupturing since Jan. 26 – was healthy and able to play in the series?
"I'm trying not to do it," said Young with a smile and a sad jerk of his head.
"That's why you have a guy like Vic," he continued. "You have a situation where you have guys who switch to Vic Big guys, we know what Vic is doing, he's going to turn back in the middle, take a couple of dribbles, go up for his middle rider. of range or sound 3. Do it [the defender] feel those. Now you start to press. Go through him, get some layups. Get some mistakes, and-1. And now you double-team. It's at this moment that everyone takes over. "
Anyone who watched the Celtics take a 3-0 lead in this series would agree with Young's assessment. The Pacers are a very specific and calculated team: hard guys at work who work well together, play a stifling defense and give the ball to Oladipo – their close friend – to carry him home. But the absence of Oladipo weighed heavily.
The Pacers are still a defeat against the Celtics after the start of their offseason, when they will be forced to close the gap that separates them Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and other major teams in the East. When they do, a question will arise about almost all the decisions that the Pacers will have to make: can their two young big emerging men, Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis, play together?
And, if they can not, can Indiana afford to keep them both?
"I think we are making all the right decisions and we are recruiting all the good players," said Turner. "This summer is obviously big, [because of] free agents and everything else, [but] I think we are doing a good job of preparing our future. "
Find everything you need to know about the first round of the series here.
At present, the future of the Pacers has more questions than answers. Although it's hard to know when Oladipo will come back, Pacers have no choice but to operate assuming that it will come back in star form when it comes back. will do it. Indiana is also home to six key players: current junior players Darren Collison, Wesley Matthews, Bojan Bogdanovic and Young, as well as Cory Joseph and Tyreke Evans, who will be unrestricted autonomous agents this summer.
Then there are Turner and Sabonis futures in Indiana, which have a direct impact on everything else. For the teams of the big markets, the answer would be simple: pay both and keep two talented players.
Things in the NBA are rarely simple, however, and this is no exception. Herb Simon, longtime owner of Indiana, does not intend to give the go-ahead to the Pacers for it's approaching the luxury tax, which complicates the task of their home office – led by basketball operations president, Kevin Pritchard, and general manager, Chad Buchanan – sign large contracts with two centers that do not associate easily in the field.
Half of this equation has already been determined, with Turner and the Pacers having agreed to a four-year contract extension of $ 70 million last fall. Turner rewarded this investment by taking a significant step forward this season, leading the NBA en bloc and earning the consideration of the defense team.
"It's a blessing to be able to play free, play free basketball and know that there's not a lot of pressure on you," Turner said. "It's easy to fall into that little time when you feel you have to do too much or you have to do too much, all you can not do."
"Doing it early definitely relieves some of the nerves."
He also did something else: set a benchmark for this summer 's negotiations with Sabonis, who will be eligible for extension before his own restricted free agency next summer. Comparing the two players is far from being a case of apple apples. Turner is the biggest, longest and most athletic of the two, as his block numbers suggest, while Sabonis, son of the Arvydas Sabonis center of the Hall of Fame, is the most complete of the two on the offensive and plays with the tenacity and advantage that scouts are attracted. It is likely that Sabonis will be able to order a similar figure.
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The fact that the class of free agents of the next summer (at least after Anthony Davis) is much weaker than this summer's star class also does not hurt the Sabonis affair.
But despite each of their intriguing talents, Sabonis and Turner are almost universally considered centers. The general trends of league management make it difficult to play them together regularly – although Sabonis thinks that over time it will change.
"It's been great," Sabonis said of playing with Turner. "Every game, we feel more comfortable together, we both want to win and we just want things to happen, I think we're good on the field, I think the coaches trust us to play more in the field, this is the only way to improve. "
Given the decision that awaits it for Indiana, one should not be surprised that the Pacers have attempted to play Turner and Sabonis together whenever possible this season. During the regular season, the strategy had some success: Indiana outscored its opponents by 3.1 points for 100 possessions in 429 minutes of play, just under seven minutes on average in each of the 64 games played.
This series against the Celtics, however, highlighted the potential disadvantages of the couple. The Pacers were outshot by 17 points (54-37) in 24 minutes Turner and Sabonis played together against the Celtics. The number of players seems even worse: Indiana is exceeded by 34 points for 100 goods when they share the same field.
"Yeah, I mean, obviously, it's going to be tough, because of the way most attackers are built," said Young, to the question of how Turner and Sabonis fit together.
"But at the end of the day, I think they've been successful together in some cases – I think it's a matter of staffing and dating."
Young is right, of course. That's why it fits better with both, and should remain a priority for the Pacers this summer. But this only underscores Indiana's difficult situation when it comes to trying to chart its future.
"The question I have with Sabonis and Turner is whether they can play together," said a Western Conference leader. "I do not think so, [but] it's me.
"I think these are the two centers, and so you're going to have to commit financially to one."
The beauty of going through the crucible of a playoff series in the NBA is that it enlightens every aspect of a team, whether good or bad. The fact that the Pacers were able to show as much fighting, courage and determination as those of this year and the last in the playoffs is an undeniable advantage.
But finally, it was not enough. And now, as Indiana observes the cold reality of an impending dead season and full of important decisions, none will be greater than the choice that the Pacers might be forced to make between their talented young men.
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