Every former Indiana Pacers player still alive in the NBA Playoffs
The Indiana Pacers aren't playing in the 2022-23 postseason, but they have fingerprints all over the playoffs.
Among the teams participating, more than a dozen players who at one time donned the blue and gold are still playing. Many of them have important roles on title-contending teams.
In the Western Conference, three of the four ongoing series have a former Pacer participating, with the Denver Nuggets vs Minnesota Timberwolves best-of-seven being the exception.
The Memphis Grizzlies don't have any ex-Indiana players, but their opponent, the Los Angeles Lakers, has one. They signed Tristan Thompson, who played in four games for the blue and gold during the 2021-22 season, earlier this month. He has yet to play a game for Los Angeles.
In the Golden State Warriors vs Sacramento Kings battle, the only former Pacer is Kings center Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis spent four-and-a-half seasons with Indiana, where he averaged 16.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, including two All-Star appearances. He's averaging 17 points and 13.7 rebounds per game in the postseason so far.
The Phoenix Suns vs Los Angeles Clippers series features many ex-Pacers. Torrey Craig, who played 51 games for Indiana in 2021-22, and T.J. Warren, who spent three injury-filled seasons with the franchise, are both giving the Suns playoff contributions. Craig has been excellent for Phoenix so far this postseason. The Pacers traded him for Jalen Smith last February.
Deandre Ayton, who agreed to a deal with the Pacers last summer that was matched by the Suns, is also on Phoenix's roster.
The Clippers, meanwhile, have Paul George on their roster. The eight-time All-Star (four times with the Pacers) has yet to suit up in the postseason due to injury, but he was the best player on two Pacers Eastern Conference Finals teams. Kawhi Leonard, who Indiana drafted and traded to San Antonio, is also on LA's roster. He, too, is currently injured.
Every Eastern Conference first-round series features a former Pacer as every team has exactly one player who used to don the blue and gold. In the Milwaukee Bucks vs Miami Heat series, for example, those players are Wesley Matthews and Victor Oladipo.
Matthews signed with the Pacers in 2018-19 after Oladipo went down with an injury. He averaged 10.9 points per game with the franchise in 23 games. Oladipo, meanwhile, was a superstar for Indiana in 2017-18 and was a two-time All-Star with the team. A ruptured quad tendon changed his career. He averaged 20.6 points per game in three-and-a-half seasons with the Pacers.
The Boston Celtics vs Atlanta Hawks series features two players who were teammates with the Pacers in Malcolm Brogdon and Aaron Holiday. Brogdon spent three seasons with Indiana from 2019 through 2022 and was one of the best players on the last Pacers team to reach the playoffs. Holiday, meanwhile, was drafted by the franchise in 2018 and spent three years developing in Indianapolis. Brogdon recently won Sixth Man of the Year for Boston while Holiday is a reserve for the Hawks.
Two former Pacers second-round picks are suiting up in the Philadelphia 76ers vs Brooklyn Nets series. Georges Niang, who the team drafted 50th overall in 2016, and Edmond Sumner, who went 52nd overall in 2017, are going head-to-head. Niang has become a great three-point shooter and is in his second season with Philly while Sumner is with the Nets for his first season outside of Indiana. Both players have made an appearance in the series already.
The final Eastern Conference series is a duel between the Cleveland Cavaliers vs New York Knicks. Caris LeVert, who the Pacers traded to the Cavs in February of 2022, is the best ex-Indiana member in that series. He scored 24 points in a key Cleveland win on Tuesday. LeVert averaged just under 20 points per game with the Pacers across two seasons. Ricky Rubio, who was on Indiana's roster for two months but never played in a game due to injury, is also with the Cavs.
For the Knicks, their connection to the blue and gold comes via Duane Washington Jr. The 23-year old guard is in his second NBA season, the first of which he spent with the Pacers. He was signed by New York at the end of February, but he is on a two-way contract so he is ineligible for the playoffs.
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