Pacers Notes: Brogdon, Warren, Pritchard, Roster Moves
The 2019/20 season will only be his fourth NBA campaign, and his first with the Pacers, but 26-year-old guard Malcolm Brogdon is Indiana’s bonafide team leader in his inaugural season in Indianapolis, writes Mark Montieth of Pacers.com.
At least one assistant coach has already gone as far as comparing Brogdon to perhaps the greatest player in Pacers’ history, five-time NBA All-Star Reggie Miller. “I haven’t seen anybody like that in practice since Reggie,” said assistant coach Dan Burke,” who’s been with the Pacers for nearly 20 seasons.
Likewise, head coach Nate McMillan sees an extension of himself on the court with Brogdon, something every coach longs for in a point guard.
“He’s doing a good job of coming in and competing and getting the guys to compete,” McMillan said “He understands the position he’s in and what’s required of that. He’s communicating with all of our guys. He communicates with the guys he’s playing with and the guys he’s playing against (in practice)… it just comes natural for him.”
There’s more tonight out of Indianapolis:
- A versatile player, offseason free agent acquisition T.J. Warren has the ability to line up as a power forward in a small-ball lineup, but the Pacers’ focus for him is to excel at small forward, reports J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star.
- Scott Agness of The Athletic writes that the Pacers have elevated their emphasis on the international game and its players since president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard, who played professionally in Spain, Italy, and Germany, was hired back in 2017. “I like the way Europe does it,” Pritchard said. “They put the emphasis early on learning the game versus playing and winning immediately.”
- As we relayed earlier today and yesterday, the Pacers have made several roster moves in the past 48 hours. In addition to exercising rookie scale options on both Aaron Holiday and T.J. Leaf, Indiana replaced forward Jakeenan Gant with guard Walt Lemon Jr. on their 20-man roster.
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Clark Crum, DMT.NEWS
