Indiana
Indiana Pacers conference opponent offseason check-in: Philadelphia 76ers
No team in the NBA had an offseason as splashy as the Philadelphia 76ers.
Philly, a team that the Indiana Pacers struggled to take down prior to this past season, managed their resources incredibly well. President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey entered the summer in a unique spot, rosterting two All-Stars and holding a ton of cap space, and he left the summer with a dramatically improved roster.
From last year’s team, the Sixers only have six holdovers: Joel Embiid, KJ Martin, Kyle Lowry, Jeff Dowtin, Tyrese Maxey, and Kelly Oubre. The rest of the roster has landed elsewhere because their contract expired, they were traded, or they were waived in the name of generating more cap space.
It’s rare that a good team has enough cap room to bring in a major talent, but that’s what Philadelphia did — they were able to sign star forward Paul George to a four-year, maximum value contract in the offseason. George, a former Pacer, was by far the best player to change teams this summer, and that instantly rocketed the 76ers up a tier or two in the East.
Then, through a combination of salary cap exceptions and clever moves, Morey added Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson, Caleb Martin, and Guerschon Yabusele. The franchise also drafted Jared McCain and Adem Bona. They have a totally new feel, yet all of their additions have a chance to be impactful.
Many have graded Philly as a big winner of the summer because of all their moves. They lost several good players to make all this happen — Nic Batum, Robert Covington, Mo Bamba, Tobias Harris, Buddy Hield, De’Anthony Melton, Cam Payne, and Paul Reed all have new homes. That list of players alone is a decent roster. But to get George and additional talent around him is a home run even when considering those departures.
The 76ers now have perhaps the best big three in the current NBA. George, Maxey, and Embiid are all incredibly talented, and they should fit well together. Embiid and Maxey already were a good pairing — now George’s defense, shooting, and overall skill will be added to that mix.
Some combination of Oubre, Martin, Gordon, and Lowry should round out a rock solid starting five. That group will be tough to topple. The Sixers kryptonite in past seasons was the minutes without Embiid on the floor, but being able to toss out Jackson, Yabusele, Drummond, McCain, and others in those moments will make for a dangerous team.
Indiana went 2-1 against Philadelphia last season. Every game was incredibly high scoring, and they likely will be again in the coming season. Both teams have a ton of firepower.
Philadelphia added more. They should be a top team in the Eastern Conference, and the Pacers will have to be at their best to take down the 76ers. Last year, the two franchises won the same number of games. The margins between them were thin. Indiana will have to grow internally to keep up with a splashy summer in the City of Brotherly Love.
RIPLEY COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) — A statewide Silver Alert has been issued for two young children in Indiana.
Police in Ripley County, southeast of Indianapolis, are looing for the children who may be siblings.
The first child is 3-year-old Aaliyah Buckingham.
She was last seen wearing a pink cat shirt and tie-dye shorts.
The younger child is 1-year-old Shane Buckingham, last seen in a red shirt and diaper.
Police think both are with 45-year-old Timothy Buckingham, who was last seen driving a brown GMC truck.
Timothy is described as a 6′ 3″ white man weighing 225 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes.
Photo of Timothy Buckingham provided by Indiana State Police
Police have not confirmed the relationship of the three, or why the children are believed to be in danger.
Anyone who sees the three are asked to contact the nearest police department.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A firefighter for the Indianapolis Fire Department was sent to the hospital Wednesday after battling a fire at a vacant house.
According to a Facebook post made by IFD, the fire happened around 10:15 a.m. at a house on Bluff Rd. IFD says that there were several complications, including limited access to fire hydrants and “interior hoarder conditions” that IFD says was due to squatters.
The injured firefighter received “slight injury,” the Facebook post said.
It took over an hour and a half to get the fire under control, according to IFD, and another hour to put out all the remaining hot spots in the building.
According to IFD, the cause of the fire is currently unknown. Their Fire Investigations Unit is working on figuring out what caused the fire.
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