Revealing the Pacers return to the finals chief architect, Bird s successor creates a small market miracle

"From December 2021 to January 2022, the team continued to lose and fell into a dark period," Carlisle recalled. "We needed a new direction, we needed to inject vitality, and we needed to re-find the team's position."

"At this time, the deal with the Kings happened."

For the sake of de Aaron Fox, the King gave up choosing Doncic. It was also for Fox that the Kings decided to send Halliburton away. Sabonis Jr. swapped his club with Halliburton. The Pacers once again found their backcourt core, and this backcourt core was exactly what Carlisle wanted.

In the 2020 draft, Carlisle, who was still the Mavericks coach, was eager to get Halliburton, and he believed that Halliburton could coexist with Doncic. The Mavericks, who had the No. 18 lottery, tried hard to trade upward but failed. Carlisle missed the opportunity to coach Halliburton. Unexpectedly, in February 2022, the king sent Halliburton to Carlisle, and Carlisle sighed that he had "picked up a treasure".

"This is a complete reconstruction of the roster. The exchange of Sabonis Jr. for Halliburton triggered a major change. With a special player like Halliburton, the reconstruction process has been greatly accelerated," Carlisle said.

Prichard once elaborated on his team building philosophy in detail. What they want is a star with correct playing style and a humble mentality. He hopes that his team can achieve more ball-holding and play without sticking to traditional positions, focusing on breaking points and three-point shooting. The defense must have the ability to switch defenses, which can limit the opponent's breakthroughs, and pursue confrontation and resilience in the overall style. Judging from every step of Prichard's operation, he has been practicing his team building philosophy.

Halliburton perfectly meets Prichard's definition of the cornerstone of team building. He got Mathering and Nemhard in the draft, and Nesmith and Toppin through the trade. The most critical step is to exchange for the all-round forward Siakam in January 2024.

Pacers exchanged for Siakam's deal with Siakam was very risky. At that time, Siakam's contract was only half a year left, and he might leave as free as a offseason in 2024. But after the team experienced a successful playoff journey, Siakam chose to renew her contract for 4 years and $189 million. His agent Lamarsal revealed that the team created by Prichard is the main reason why Siakam chose to renew her contract and stay in the team. His trading allowed the team to have Halliburton, the cornerstone of the team building, Carlisle, and a complete set of deep and thick lineups.

When the Pacers entered the Eastern Conference Final last year, many people rated their success as "based on luck" and "based on opponent's injury bonus", but what about this year? The Pacers let everyone see the power of their team basketball.

Halliburton has long been among the top point guards. Siakam proved the value of an all-around forward and won the MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals. Turner, Nemhard and Nesmith each performed their duties. The Pacers started with the top five Tigers in multiple advanced data leagues. On the bench, McConaughey is one of the most stable backup point guards in the league. Toppin's career was saved by the Pacers, and even Thomas Bryant can play the surprise in the G6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, and the Pacers can easily rotate 10 people. This season, the Pacers don't have to pay luxury taxes.

Prichard knows how difficult it is to operate a small market team. The Pacers have not paid luxury tax for 20 years. The Simon family is in charge of the Pacers era, and the total amount of tax payments from Pacers is less than $10 million. They can't learn from the Lakers, and they can welcome superstars to join by sitting at home. They can't learn from the Sun, and they're spending $150 million in luxury tax (Pacers' salary spending $169 million this season) without blinking. To make the Pacers successful, Prichard can only rely on patience, precise vision, meticulous trading, and luck.

Prichard achieved self-help, and Nesmith, Nemhard and Toppin are all masterpieces of their operations. Prichard also received help from God, the King decided to strengthen the inside, and the Raptors chose to rebuild, which allowed the Pacers to get Halliburton + Siakam.

Unlike star executives such as Pelinka who live in the spotlight, Prichard was too low-key until the Pacers returned to the finals that people wondered who the team's chief architect was. In this alliance full of noise and impetuousness, Prichard is an alien who created a miracle belonging to the Pacers in his own way.

The US media ClutchPoints gave Prichard an objective and precise evaluation not long ago:

"He did not make headlines with a sensational heavy deal. He quietly, patiently and set up a team bit by bit. Others pursue super giants and blindly bets. He looks for adaptive puzzles and is good at calculating. He does not rely on lottery draws, nor does he take shortcuts. He only has vision and firm beliefs."