Ultimate 5: The best Pacers lineup since '95
While hoops remain on hiatus theScore's NBA editors will be compiling ultimate starting lineups for each team in the association. The catch: Only players who have been in the league since the 1995-96 season can be included.
The Indiana Pacers have long endeavored to avoid truly bottoming out. That approach has resulted in only one Finals appearance in the past 25 years, and zero titles dating back to the team's ABA days.
There are two hallmarks of the Pacers' approach to talent acquisition: buy low on a former lottery pick who didn't latch on in a previous stop and make the most of their own mid-first-round draft selections. The players listed below mostly fall into one of these categories.
Guard
Mark Jackson
Jackson made an impact in 405 appearances with the Pacers from 1994 to 2000 (with a half-season stint with the Denver Nuggets during the 1996-97 campaign), during which he averaged just over eight points, eight assists, and a steal in just under 30 minutes per contest.
He also started 74 games across five playoff runs, helping the team reach the Eastern Conference finals three times and the NBA Finals in 2000.
His 3,294 dimes rank third in team history.
Guard
Reggie Miller
Not a whole lot needs to be said about Miller, whose 1,389 regular-season games as the face of the Pacers from 1987 to 2005 are over 500 more than the second-most in team history. Outside of rebounds, he's the franchise leader in virtually every major statistic.
Miller averaged 18.2 points, three rebounds, three assists, and a steal per game for his career. He shot 39.5% from long range and held the all-time made 3-pointers record until Ray Allen passed him in 2011. He was a five-time All-Star, a three-time All-NBA selectee, and inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
Forward
Paul George
From 2010 to 2017, George averaged over 18 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. He shot well from long range (37%) and earned a reputation as one of the top wing defenders in the game. He was an All-Star in each of his four final healthy seasons in Indiana, one fewer appearance in the exhibition spectacle than Miller mustered during his entire career.
Most memorably, George was a central figure in the team's meetings against the Miami Heat squad that featured LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. They met first in the Eastern Conference semis in 2012 and then in the conference finals in 2013 and 2014. The Pacers fell in all three series, but no team in the East consistently gave that would-be Heat dynasty such a challenge.
Forward
Danny Granger
Granger was a very good player when healthy, but knee injuries cut both his prime and his career as a whole short.
He somehow managed to play 544 games in a Pacers jersey despite logging just one season after Year 3 with more than 70 appearances. From 2007 to 2012, Granger averaged 21.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and a block per game while shooting nearly 39% on threes. He peaked with an All-Star selection and Most Improved Player Award in 2008-09.
Center
Jermaine O'Neal
O'Neal immediately validated the team's decision to acquire him from the Portland Trail Blazers, as he was named the Most Improved Player in 2000.
In eight seasons with Indiana, the 6-foot-11 center averaged 18.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, two assists, and 2.4 blocks per game. He was a six-time All-Star and a three-time All-NBA honoree, and finished third in MVP voting for the 2003-04 season.
With O'Neal taking over from Miller as the team's focal point, the Pacers topped out with a hard-fought conference finals appearance against the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
Just Missed
Victor Oladipo
Oladipo has been an All-Star-caliber player when healthy, but that's the rub; he's played just 124 games in three seasons with the Pacers.
Jamaal Tinsley
Tinsley logged nearly 400 regular-season appearances from 2001 to 2008. He's one of only 13 members of the "5x5 Club," which he achieved when he recorded 12 points, 15 assists, nine rebounds, six steals, and five blocks against the Minnesota Timberwolves mere weeks into his rookie campaign.
Metta Sandiford-Artest (Ron Artest)
The man formerly known as Artest played only 193 games over parts of five seasons with the Pacers. He had a career year in 2003-04, averaging around 18-5-4 with more than two steals per game, earning his lone All-Star appearance plus the Defensive Player of the Year Award. However, he followed that up by missing all but seven contests the next season due to suspension for the "Malice at the Palace" debacle.
Artest was shipped to the Sacramento Kings just 16 games into 2005-06, ending his memorable but tumultuous tenure with Indiana.