Indiana Pacers (so far)

The Pacers went the makeover route this summer. GM Larry Bird clearly just didn't feel like Coach Vogel was worth a raise, so he let him walk and replaced him with Nate MacMillan, which looks like a step down to my eye. Also they shipped out PG George Hill in favor of PG Jeff Teague (not a step down but definitely a step sidewise), let Ian Mahinmi (Wizards) and Jordan Hill (Wolves) go and don't seem likely to retain Chase Budinger or Ty Lawson.  A new coach, a new PG and a shakeup in the supporting cast, not insignificant moves.

In addition to adding Teague, they also brought in Thaddeus Young (in exchange for the #20 pick), Al Jefferson (3yrs/$30m), Aaron Brooks (1yr/$2,5m) and drafted Georges Niang (#50) (though I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't make the team this fall). Finally, they retained Solomon Hill (4yrs/$52m).

This lineup looks pretty strange to me. They feature a ton of combo guards (Teague, Ellis, Stuckey, Brooks) making it difficult to put together a starting five. Do they play Teague and Monta Ellis together? They have to, don't they? Okay, the starting five looks like: PG Teague, SG Ellis, SF George, PF Young, C Turner with Stuckey, Brooks, Miles, Robinson, Evans, Christmas, Allen and Jefferson off the bench. Good depth but a weird collection of players.

Seems to me the upside the Pacers are hoping for is the development of Myles Turner: if he becomes the Lamarcus Aldridge clone he can be, then this lineup should be pretty good, not dissimilar to what the Pelicans have been trying (and failed) to surround Anthony Davis with over the last few years. If Turner is a top flight finisher then Paul George, Jeff Teague and Monta Ellis become arguably the best supporting cast in the league. But...wait...does that make sense? Monta Ellis doesn't seem like a second banana but ideally he'd be 3rd or 4th on this team. That feels like a disaster waiting to happen.

And what does Coach MacMillan add to all of this? Is he a developer? A tactician? I always thought of him as an ego-soother and that might be just what this team needs. Strange to say but MacMillan might be a better fit for this roster than Vogel (who I think is one of the finest coaches in the league). If this team gels they can be really good; if not, they could be a catastrophe. (Feels like Ellis and/or Teague could be trade bait by February)