Who are the Indiana Pacers free agents in 2023?
The Indiana Pacers 2022-23 season is over, meaning they are in offseason mode. The front office has to figure out the best course of action for a team that exceeded expectations this year.
Part of determining the best way forward for the blue and gold will require making decisions on the team's free agents this summer, and there are five of them. Indiana has to figure out who they want back among the quintet.
The five players who are entering free agency after finishing the 2022-23 season with the Pacers are:
- Oshae Brissett
- Kendall Brown (restricted)
- George Hill
- James Johnson
- Gabe York
York and Brown were on two-way contracts, but the other three players were on standard NBA deals this past season. "All three of those guys are awesome, awesome people," Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said of the trio at his exit interview.
Brissett is the best player in that group. He has played in 153 games for the Pacers since being signed in 2021, including 65 this past season. He has been a key reserve for the team as it transitioned from one era to the next.
His role was inconsistent this past season, but his athleticism, defense, and age will make him valuable to any team. Players of his size are in-demand in the NBA. He averaged 6.1 points per game in 2022-23.
Hill and Johnson were both on NBA deals as well. Their veteran capabilities were important for the team this season, and it will be interesting to see if Indiana determines that both players are needed again.
"George Hill has meant so much to this organization," Pritchard said. Hill and Johnson played a combined 328 minutes this season.
"Those guys are guys that we'll be looking at," Pritchard said of Brissett, Johnson, and Hill. "But with all these draft picks and cap space, they're not July 1 deals, they're July 10 [deals]... I just don't think we get to that decision tree until later on," he added. The Pacers have five draft picks and plenty of salary cap room this summer, so bringing back all of their free agents will be almost impossible. There just aren't enough roster spots to make it work.
By finishing the season on two-way deals, the futures of Brown and York are less clear. Brown could be a restricted free agent this summer if the Pacers send him a qualifying offer, and Pritchard noted that it's possible the team brings him back. Indiana drafted him with the 48th overall pick in 2022, though injuries shortened his season.
York only spent 10 days with the team, so he can't become a restricted free agent. If the new NBA CBA gives teams a third two-way contract next season, which has been reported as something that may be the case, then that may increase the chance that York returns as a depth piece.
The Pacers will be a busy team this summer. Expect to hear these names often over the next few months.
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