What Will the Pacers’ Rotation Look Like?

Jan 5, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel reacts in the first quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Indiana Pacers are heading into what is expected to be a very difficult season this year, and they are going to have to use much different rotations than they were expecting when last season ended. They lose Lance Stephenson in free agency to the Charlotte Hornets, and then Paul George broke his leg on August 1st in Team USA’s scrimmage game. What will their rotation look like in 2014 after the major changes that has shaken the franchise over the past few weeks?

C: Roy Hibbert – 30-35 MPG
PF: David West – 30-34 MPG
SF: Solomon Hill – 28-30 MPG
SG: C.J. Miles – 31-34 MPG
PG: George Hill – 31-36 MPG
Bench: Luis Scola – 16-18 MPG
Bench: C.J. Watson – 15-17 MPG
Bench: Ian Mahinmi – 15-16 MPG
Bench: Rodney Stuckey – 15-20 MPG
Bench: Chris Copeland – 12-14 MPG
Bench: Damjan Rudez – 7-9 MPG

Those are the type of minutes that each player could see this season, but the rotation could shake up drastically depending on what head coach Frank Vogel decides to do. That appears to be the most talked about starting five that could potentially be put on the court, but Stuckey could step into the shooting guard position and Miles could move to small forward. At this point in time, it is too difficult to nail down exactly what their rotation is going to be.

It will be very intriguing to see what type of rotation Vogel decides to put on the court, especially with the Pacers’ desperately needing to find scoring help. Larry Bird brought in talented players who can fit into a system, but Vogel will have to figure out how to use them to the best of their abilities. That’s going to be a very tough task, as Vogel showed some major coaching deficiencies towards the end of last season.

Overall, it will be very intriguing to see what changes Vogel makes to his system and how the Pacers try to fill in some scoring in the wake of George’s injury. The Pacers have quite a few holes to fill, and many analysts don’t expect them to even make the playoffs. That being said, the players are confident that they can make some noise in the Eastern Conference with their current roster and they are out to prove themselves this season.