The Pacers will have to defend their Eastern Conference championship without Tyrese Haliburton, who will spend this season rehabbing from Achilles tendon surgery. Big man Obi Toppin still believes the Pacers can be “great” without their star guard.
“Ty brings so much to the team and it’s not hidden, everybody understands what he brings to the game,” Toppin told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “So it’s just something that everybody on the team has to do while we’re out there, just doing a little extra knowing what we’re missing and knowing what we need out there on the court and just continue playing Pacers basketball. We’ve built the system here and I feel like everybody has bought into the system. That’s why we’ve been so successful. If we continue doing that, we’re gonna still be great.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Given Josh Giddey‘s defensive shortcomings, handing him a four-year, $100MM contract was a risky move, according to Julia Poe of the Chicago Tribune. While the Bulls got the deal done without egregiously overpaying, they can’t continue to make large commitments to players that can be exploited on the defensive end, Poe contends. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times takes a different approach, stating that Giddey’s contract compares favorably to several of the Eastern Conference starting point guards.
- The Detroit Free Press’ Omari Sankofa II projects a Pistons starting lineup of Jaden Ivey, Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren. Sankofa also looks a few other combinations that the coaching staff might want to explore this season.
- Can the Bucks find a reliable point guard? Will Kyle Kuzma have a bounce-back campaign? Those are two of the five questions that could define Milwaukee’s season, according to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm, who takes a closer look at each of those issues.
Name somebody besides Ayo who can play defense on the Bulls. I’ll wait.
There’s that positivity we all love to read
Okoro
Buzelis
It’s a valid analysis. Everybody knows the Bulls have acquired a bunch of offense-first players, and they’ll need to rebalance it somewhat to succeed.
The trade for Caruso made sense. Giddey met the Bulls’ big offensive need for a primary ball-handler. But he’ll always the lack lateral mobility to guard the ball and the perimeter, which is the main reason he didn’t fit in OKC. The fit with Kobe White is questionable for the same reason the rumors of pairing him with Steph Curry made no sense.
Bulls will make playoffs this season.Just don’t forget breathing while responding
Dear mouth-breather,
The play-in is not the play-offs.
Yup,I read your comments like everyone’s else,it is not hard to separate who is an expert and who is a mouth breather like you.All I ask you just to remember in April what you just said:”Play in not the playoffs”.Meet you in April,dear
I appreciate your letting me know you’re an expert. I didn’t know there were any on this board until now.
April.You said play in.I said playoff.Can’t wait to see who is who on this board
I would respect your opinion more if you did not hide behind a fake screen name.
Williams ……. could be another OG. Unfortunately Bulls are confused about him.
I think I know who is confused…
The Pacers are legit to win 45 plus games. Alls game on a veteran team like this will flourish without Tyresse there.
The question will arise are they a better “team” without him. Which is not to be confused with do they “need” him?
Nobody who breathes oxygen on the planet earth has ever wondered if the Pacers are better without Haliburton.
Yeah but you have to wonder. Why Pacers didn’t bring in Brogdon. Or should be trading for a PG. unless they have someone we don’t know about.
Trading k midd for Kuzma was a bad decision primarily on a human level but apparently also on a basketball level, once you examine what it takes to win in the playoffs.
But not on a financial level. MIL will get something for Kuzma at some point, while Middleton is dead money and probably in his final season. He likely returns to MIL on the minimum after a trade deadline buyout (pending his ankles allowing him to go out on his feet).
Bucks and Pacers both should have brought in Brogdon. Both need him more than Knicks.
Both teams imo are still playoff teams. Detroit is the team to beat in Central.
I am a big Giddey guy. It seems to me Bulls want to follow the Thunder formula. Of having a team offense that doesn’t really need a true PG. Where you have play makers and more scoring. Not sure that is best structure for Giddey. I see him as more a traditional PG. who manages and runs offense from point. Like Haliburton, Brunson, Fox , Trae, Cade …..
MIL has too many contracts, Knicks can actually offer him a job.
IND doesn’t really need him since Nembhard has been playing out of position his whole career. They can slide Mathurin down to the 2, as they need Jabari Walker to get SF mins in year 3. Not really any role available there either. Unlike NY where he’s probably the backup PG health permitting.
That article about Giddey in the Chicago Tribune is awful and reeks of somebody who doesn’t watch basketball but parrots stuff they hear. “Giddey is offense-only. He rarely takes advantage of his size because of his lack of mobility on defense. Giddey’s defensive inadequacy is paired with a tendency to melt in the postseason.”
To anyone who has a pair of eyes, Giddey is a big positive when the opponent has the ball. He’s a joint best rebounder among guards in the league; he absolutely does use his size inside the paint and near the rim to affect shots; he has very good counting steal and block stats, but those are not just meaningless stats – his stocks won games for the Bulls; every year in OKC, he was making progress as a defender, and showed it in Chicago; he’s virtually the least of their concerns on defense among the starting 5. He’s made progress in fouls drawn and other areas that hugely affect defensive efficiency.
Giddey is awesome. Apparently, the Chicago crowd doesn’t realize it.
Giddey is basically a point forward like Luka, current LeBron, DeRozan, etc. He can’t defend other PGs (closer to a 3/4 on defense) and a team needs to build around that. Hardly an uncommon trait in today’s league.
The real flaw with the Bulls isn’t Giddey, its that they had no defensive infrastructure with the previous core (DeRozan, LaVine, Vucevic), esp after Lonzo went down.
They still have Vuce on the backline and won’t be a positive defensive team until they manage to dump him.
Agree. He’s a backcourt player in possession, but he shouldn’t be tasked with defending quick guards or be a POA defender.
Bulls have been drafting tall physical forwards recently, maybe that’s how they want to get more defensive resistance in the team.
Caruso alone was not able to make a difference on a team like that.
I think the Pacers should have signed Delano Blanton. He’s a very underrated player.
I’ve liked Banton but he just hasn’t made enough progress. He has a career 49.5 TS% as a 6’9″ guard who turns 26 in November. Very much a jack of all trades, master of none.
I hear you but I think he just hasn’t had the opportunity to really have a defined role with a team. With the Pacers that’s all they need is someone to come in and play either guard spot play decent defense and just provide another reliable ball handler. 26 is not old and he still has some upside.