Age: 28
Years pro: 10
Status: Has two seasons remaining on his contract, the second one a player option.
Key stats: Averaged 11 points and 6.1 rebounds. Hit 53 percent of his field goal attempts, a career-high 38 percent of his 3-point attempts and a career-low 52 percent of his free throw attempts.
If you're disappointed by the Pacers' 42-40 record and looking for explanations, you might want to start by blaming Thad Young.
Thad Young's left wrist, to be more exact.
Young sprained the wrist on his shooting arm in a game at Brooklyn on Feb. 3. The Pacers won that game, and managed to win the next two without him, at home over Detroit and Oklahoma City. Remember the feeling after that victory over the Thunder? Good times, huh? The Pacers were 29-22, winners of seven consecutive games and just two games back of third place in the Eastern Conference.
Reality soon caught up in the form of a six-game losing streak. A major part of that reality was strength of schedule, as each of the losses came to an eventual playoff team – two each to Cleveland and Washington. But the subplot to the reality was Young's absence, which left the Pacers deficient in several areas.
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Young was the team's most versatile player. He could score inside and out, rebound his position well and defend three positions. He also brought a mature, calming influence to the court and the locker room. Tangibles, intangibles.
That six-game losing streak, in which they lost by an average of 10.3 points, dropped the Pacers from within a clear view of third place in the East to a looking-over-their-shoulder 2 ½ games ahead of ninth. Suddenly, the postseason was in doubt.
Young returned for the game against Memphis on Feb. 24, his offending wrist heavily taped, and scored an efficient 10 points in 25 minutes in a 10-point victory over Memphis. That, however, began the 14-game stretch in which they alternated wins and losses, which probably was an appropriate result given his compromised status. He could play, but could barely shoot anything beyond a layup – and even those became an adventure with the loss of flexibility in his wrist. Over the next 15 games, he averaged just 7.8 points. He missed his first seven foul shots in that stretch, and wound up 4-of-16. He hardly dared try a 3-point shot, and the one he hit in his four attempts felt more like luck than skill.
Still, his contributions in that era of treading water emphasized the versatility and substance of his game.
Young felt well enough to take the tape off his wrist for the game at Cleveland on April 2. That event coincided with Lance Stephenson's return to the Pacers, and neither factor was a coincidence in their sprint to the finish line and into the playoffs. They lost in double overtime to the Cavs, with Young scoring 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting, then won their final five. During that six-game stretch, he averaged 14.8 points on 61 percent shooting.
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It wasn't just about his offense, though. He adequately defended power forwards near the basket as well as the stretch fours and wing players floating around the perimeter. That he could switch over to guard nearly any player in pick-and-roll defense and still hold his own made him an invaluable asset because it meant the guards didn't have to fight through as many screens.
"Our defense is tied together when he's out there," coach Nate McMillan said.
Young was equally effective in the playoffs, in his typical understated manner. He averaged 12 points on 54 percent shooting, along with nine rebounds – 5.5 on the offensive end – and two steals.
Looking back, the case could be made he should have gotten more shots, not just in the postseason but all season. Among the four core starters – Paul George, Myles Turner, Jeff Teague and himself – he had the highest field goal percentage (.527) but the lowest number of shots per game (9.3).
The fact he never complained about that only added to his value as a "glue guy" with skills. If not for his left wrist, who knows? The Pacers likely would have finished higher in the standings, drawn a different first-round opponent and might still be playing today.
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