Having overcome their great rival of the previous generation, the New York Knicks, in the semis, the Indiana Pacers – back to the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 Disney bubble – made their first Eastern Conference Finals series since 2013. But they came up short – a dominant four-game performance by the Boston Celtics saw the Pacers’ season end, one that yielded a decent 47-35 regular season record and an impressively comfortable first-round victory over the higher-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, but which ended limply in a hefty loss to a rival.
Nonetheless, being back in tough-out territory suits the Pacers, and puts them in a position where, with good health and some more reinforcement, they can perhaps enter the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference – an echelon with currently only one team in it, the Celtics – and truly contend for silverware. With this in mind, the Pacers made an uncharacteristically aggressive mid-season buy when they acquired All-Star forward Pascal Siakam back in January.
As expected, Siakam made the Pacers better. If he returns, as is heavily expected, they can be so again. But they will want more, especially as Haliburton enters his prime seasons. With momentum broadly on their side – Celtics series excepted – and some staggered timelines on their incumbent roster all of which favor short-term goals, perhaps the time is right for the Pacers to push on further.
There follows a look at the Indiana Pacers’ roster and spending heading into the 2024 NBA offseason.