Five biggest storylines entering Indiana Pacers Training Camp 2024
All but two players are back from last year's team that reached the conference finals. More will be demanded from them — individually and collectively. It all gets started with media day on Monday.
Summer is over for the Indiana Pacers.
It’s back to work on Monday for media day (which has become more about content gathering for the team) followed by Day 1 of training camp on Tuesday at the Ascension St. Vincent practice facility.
The Pacers Foundation held its annual golf outing this past Wednesday, which traditionally represents the unofficial start of a new season. Unfortunately, this staple event was not open to local media for the second straight year.
Due to the heightened interest (and thus my coverage) of Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, along with Tyrese Haliburton and Team USA winning the Olympic gold medal, it felt like the offseason flew by. At least for me.
I’m entering my 13th season on the Pacers beat.
One of the biggest/best events happened two weeks ago in Orlando. Pascal Siakam hosted his teammates for a weeklong mini-camp to gear up for the season. The veteran forward was a mid-season acquisition and only played 41 regular-season games with this group, yet he’s quickly taken on a substantial leadership role.
A few weeks before that, he hosted first- and second-year teammates for several days of workouts and hanging out.
Now, it’s go time.
They’ll have a week of practices to gear up for their first of four exhibition games. And for this team, continuity and depth are their top attributes.
All but two players (Jalen Smith and Doug McDermott) return to from a group that finished second in the in-season tournament (now known as the NBA Cup) and reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
Over the last three seasons, the Pacers increased their win total from 25 to 35 to 47 wins. Therefore a 50-win season should be the goal. Their projected win total is set at 47.5 on FanDuel.
Teams may bring a maximum of 21 players to training camp. Opening Night rosters must be set by 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 21, one day before the start of the regular season.
Guards (5)
Tyrese Haliburton
Andrew Nembhard
T.J. McConnell
Bennedict Mathurin
Ben Sheppard
Forwards (7)
Aaron Nesmith
Pascal Siakam
Obi Toppin
Jarace Walker
Johnny Furphy
Kendall Brown*
Cole Swider*
Center (4)
Myles Turner
Isaiah Jackson
James Johnson*
James Wiseman*
Two-Way Contracts (3)
Quenton Jackson
Tristen Newton
Enrique Freeman
*non-guaranteed contract
Here are the biggest storylines entering training camp, the fourth in a row under head coach Rick Carlisle.