Age: 29
Years Pro: 8
Status: Unrestricted free agent
Key Stats: Averaged 12.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. Shot career-best 44 percent from the field and 39 percent from 3-point range.
When he signed with the Pacers over the summer, Rodney Stuckey talked about wanting a "fresh start" in Indiana. Stuckey spent his first seven NBA seasons in Detroit, where he played for six different head coaches. The Pistons failed to reach the playoffs in each of his final five years in the Motor City.
All those years of losing took their toll on Stuckey, who joined the Blue & Gold eager to repair a damaged reputation. There were whispers that he was a bad teammate, a guy who only cared about his own stats and couldn't fit in on a winning team. Even though he'd posted a double-digit scoring average for six straight seasons, Stuckey signed a one-year deal with the Pacers for the veteran minimum, a move that was viewed in some circles as a gamble by Indiana.
Any notion that Stuckey would be a bad fit with the Pacers was quickly dispelled. He meshed seamlessly with a tight-knit locker room and was the consummate professional with the media.
Just as importantly, Stuckey turned out to be the perfect fit on the court.
PHOTO GALLERY: Rodney Stuckey's 2014-15 Season »
It was evident pretty quickly just what the eight-year veteran could bring to the team. On Opening Night, Stuckey registered 16 points and five assists in just 16 minutes off the bench. He missed the better part of eight games in early November due to a foot injury, but was just as productive once he returned, scoring in double figures in 13 of his next 15 contests.
Without Paul George or even George Hill for the first few months of the season, the Pacers offense relied heavily on Stuckey. The 6-foot-5 combo guard was the team's best penetrator, using his world-class speed and tough-minded nature to attack the rim as often as possible. Simply put, he gave the Pacers a dimension that no one else could.
For that reason, head coach Frank Vogel mostly deployed Stuckey in the starting lineup for the first half of the season. He started in 36 of his first 40 appearances for the Pacers and was largely successful in that role.
Still, Stuckey believed that the team would perform better with him coming off the bench. Unselfishly, he approached Vogel with the idea just before the All-Star break. Vogel listened, and both Stuckey and the Pacers flourished.
Stuckey permanently joined the second unit on Feb. 11 in New Orleans. The Pacers promptly won 10 of their next 11 games. Stuckey was sensational over that stretch, scoring 30 points in a win at Philadelphia on Feb. 20 and then matching the feat two days later as Indiana knocked off the NBA-leading Golden State Warriors at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
A few weeks later, Stuckey set season highs with 34 points and six 3-pointers in a 32-point drubbing of Orlando, perhaps the high-water mark of the Pacers' season. A calf injury in mid-March sidelined the combo guard for three games and his play was up-and-down over the final few weeks of the year, just narrowly missing out on the playoffs once again as the Pacers were eliminated on the final night of the regular season.
Still, it was a highly successful season for Rodney Stuckey. He finished the year as the Pacers' third-leading scorer, averaging 12.6 points per game. He did so efficiently, shooting a career-best 44 percent from the field and a very solid 81.9 percent from the free throw line.
Most impressive, however, was the improvement Stuckey made from beyond the 3-point line. In seven seasons in Detroit, Stuckey had shot better than 30 percent from beyond the arc just twice, connecting on 31.7 percent of his attempts in his best year (the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season).
But in 2014-15, Stuckey shot 39 percent from 3-point range. For him to improve so drastically at this point in his career came as a surprise to many, but not to Stuckey himself. He credited his improved stroke to hours of gym time with associate head coach Nate McMillan, who stayed late with Stuckey and rookie Damjan Rudež after virtually every practice to help them get up extra shots.
Indeed, Stuckey's shooting stroke got better as the season went on. After connecting on just 27.3 percent of his 3-point shots in January, he shot 42.9 percent from long range over the final three months of the season.
After successfully repairing his image in his one season in Indiana, Stuckey, who turned 29 a couple weeks ago, figures to be a hot commodity on the free agent market. The Pacers would love to bring him back, and team president Larry Bird expressed optimism that that will happen, telling the media at his end-of-season press conference, "I think we can get Rodney done."
Only time will tell what the future holds for Rodney Stuckey, but one thing is certain. Any team would be lucky to have him on their roster.
Editor's Note: Roy Hibbert, Rodney Stuckey, and Shayne Whittington were not available for season review interviews due to scheduling conflicts.