The Indiana Pacers were the involved in a three-team trade after the NBA Finals that sent point guard George Hill to the Utah Jazz, two 2017 draft picks to the Atlanta Hawks and the Indianapolis native, Jeff Teague to his hometown team. Teague was born in Indianapolis, Indiana he attended basketball powerhouse Pike high school, he was the 9th ranked point guard in the nation when he graduated. He attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina , and entered the draft after his sophomore year in college getting selected 19th overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2009 draft. After his 3rd year he proved himself as a solid point guard in the league and with the help of Al Horford was able to make it to the Conference Finals 2 seasons ago. Teague and Horford were the only remaining player on the roster who were drafted by the Hawks and both moved to a different team this off season. This brings me to the Indiana Pacers, the Pacers roster in my opinion is looking a lot better this season. The biggest hole that needed to be filled was the depth at the center position, Myles Turner is a great young talent with tremendous upside, but he can not do it all. They did so in signing veteran center Al Jefferson, who is a great low post scorer, they also signed high flyer Jeremy Evans who is a power forward that can also play the 3. In the off season the picked up a hometown player, Thaddeus Young who played ball at Georgia Tech, he had a solid season for the Brooklyn Nets last year and I know he will produce for the Pacers. Aaron Brooks, who was the backup for Derrick Rose in Chicago last year was also picked up by Indiana along with Julyan Stone. Their two draft picks are also big men, Georges Niang from Iowa State who I thought was a very solid pick-up due to his rim protection abilities in college. We also selected Alex Polythress from Kentucky who struggles around the rim but I know he will work hard in this league. Paul George will definitely play well this year and will be contending for MVP after playing well and winning gold in Rio. The starting lineup will consist of Jeff Teague, Monta Ellis, Paul George, Myles Turner and Al Jefferson. The Pacers will make the playoffs with the 3rd seed and maybe make it to the conference finals, they WILL beat Toronto.
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