Roster wise, the Indiana Pacers are definitely a team that should have NBA championship aspirations, as Malcolm Brogdon, Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert, TJ Warren and Myles Turner who make up one of the best starting fives in the entire league, but this organization has some major issues going on right now.
Early on in the season, last year’s breakout star TJ Warren suffered a stress fracture in his left foot injury that has kept him out the entire year, but recently, new details have surfaced about his injury and a potential reason why he has been sitting out.
READ MORE: NBA Trade Rumors: 3 teams who could consider trading for TJ Warren in the offseason
First year head coach Nate Bjorkgren and TJ Warren were both on the Phoenix Suns from 2015-2017, Bjorkgren as an assistant coach and Warren as a young forward entering the league, but Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer is reporting that the Pacers did not talk with Phoenix executives nor TJ Warren about Nate Bjorkgren.
Now, reports are surfacing saying Warren wants to be traded because he never wanted to play for Nate Bjorkgren and there has been a giant “divide” in the locker room between the coaching staff and the players.
Recently, this rift could be seen in a game against the Sacramento Kings the other night. Goga Bitadze allowed a layup to Maurice Harkless of the Kings and assistant coach Greg Foster was irate with Bitadze on the sideline. The two seemed to get into an argument at the next timeout and Foster had to be restrained from going after Goga Bitadze.
This is not a good look at all for an organization that is not only struggling, but already has rumors circulating around them about the potential future of the team. Now, after one season Nate Bjorkgren’s future in Indiana is very up-in-the-air and some major changes are coming to the Pacers organization in the offseason.
With that said, let’s take a look at three major changes the Pacers’ ownership and management needs to consider this offseason to try and fix some of the many things that have gone wrong this year.
