Another year has come and gone and once again it's time to take a look back at another calendar year of Pacers basketball.
2019 was another memorable year for Pacers fans. While the year began with a devastating injury, it also featured plenty of positive moments — another playoff appearance, a number of exciting offseason moves, and a strong start to the new NBA season.
In 2018, we shared with you the 10 most-read stories on Pacers.com. We're doing that again for 2019, revisiting our 10 most popular entries on the world wide web over the last 12 months.
Check out this year's list:
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The news of a new deal with the CIB was of great interest to Pacers fans and Indianapolis residents. The agreement cemented the long-term future of the Pacers in Indianapolis and did so without adding any new taxes or fees, the first long-term contract agreement between the city and a Major League sports team to do so.
The other major news included in the new CIB deal was the upcoming renovation of Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Beginning in early 2020, The Fieldhouse will undergo a dramatic transformation to ensure that it will continue providing great fan experiences in the coming decades.
The planned upgrades to The Fieldhouse include more social and standing-room gathering spaces and a new outdoor plaza that will have year-round public use. See Renderings »
Credit: VO Show (YouTube)
2019 got off to a rough start when All-Star guard Victor Oladipo went down with a ruptured quad tendon on Jan. 23. As the year continued to unfold, Pacers fans have diligently tracked Oladipo's rehab and recovery from his season-ending surgery.
Over the summer, Oladipo himself shared encouraging news on his YouTube series, "The VO Show." This particular episode showcased his first time running on a hard surface, as well as various drills he was participating in as part of his rehab.
The excitement for Oladipo's pending return is palpable and Pacers fans are looking forward to seeing him back on the court in 2020.
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One might think that only diehard fans are invested in the NBA Summer League. Teams field rosters featuring a handful of young players alongside a group of most anonymous players who make their living in the G League or playing overseas.
This year, the Pacers didn't even have their most recent first-round pick, Goga Bitadze, play in Summer League, as he was unable to sort out work visa issues in time to participate in games in Las Vegas.
But nonetheless, this article from Pacers.com's Mark Montieth — which traces the historical significance of Summer League in Pacers franchise history — was one of the most popular stories on Pacers.com in all of 2019. So clearly, fans do in fact care about Summer League.
Credit: Frank McGrath
The NBA Draft is always a big hit with Pacers fans and this year was no exception.
Fans may have been a little surprised when the Blue & Gold selected Georgian center Goga Bitadze with the 18th overall pick. But frankly, so was the Pacers' front office, who was stunned that Bitadze was still on the board when Indiana went on the clock.
In this story, Montieth takes you inside the draft room with Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard, revisiting how draft night unfolded and how Bitadze fits in the Pacers' long-term plans.
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The Pacers' biggest offseason acquisition was Malcolm Brogdon, the 2017 NBA Rookie of the Year, whom they obtained in a sign-and-trade with Milwaukee.
Brogdon has already left quite the impression just 30-something games into his first season in Indiana. He leads the Pacers in points and assists and has thrived in a new role as the Blue & Gold's primary playmaker while Oladipo remains sidelined. Brogdon is considered a strong candidate for an All-Star selection.
This feature, written shortly after Brogdon was signed, details seven anecdotes (picked because he chose to wear the number 7) to help fans learn more about Brogdon.
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New uniforms always generate a lot of buzz and Nike has created plenty of interest since taking over as the NBA's official apparel provider a few seasons ago.
The Pacers unveiled two new uniforms in 2019, including an updated version of their gold Statement Edition uniforms. Indiana wore solid gold uniforms for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, but rolled out a new look for the 2019-20 campaign.
This year's Statement Edition uniform is a modern take on the popular Flo-Jo uniforms the Pacers wore in the 1990s, featuring diagonal striping across the uniform.
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Just as popular as the new Statement Edition uniforms are the Pacers' new City Edition uniforms, which were unveiled on Nov. 21 in collaboration with Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The City Edition uniforms pay tribute to both Indianapolis' rich legacy of auto racing as well as the team's modern identity. The white uniforms feature a number encircled on the front of the jersey in the style of a classic IndyCar nosecone and a two-tone vertical checkered racing stripe on the left side of the uniform.
The uniforms, which were modeled by Oladipo, Myles Turner, and T.J. Warren in photo and video shoots, debuted on Nov. 27 and will be worn 15 times in the regular season. In fact, they will be the last uniforms the Pacers wear this decade when they take the court in them for their New Year's Eve game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
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Ever since the Pacers acquired Domantas Sabonis from Oklahoma City in the summer of 2017, fans have been yearning to see the 6-11 Lithuanian play alongside fellow big man Myles Turner in the Pacers' frontcourt.
They played together sparingly over the past two seasons, but the departure of starting forward Thaddeus Young in free agency this summer created an opening Indiana's starting frontcourt. Pritchard and Pacers head coach Nate McMillan announced in July that Sabonis and Turner would start together during the 2019-20 season.
This story from Montieth was written in the aftermath of that announcement and takes an early look at how the pairing might work together. We're still early into the new "twin towers" era of Pacers basketball, but the early results with both Sabonis and Turner starting have been promising.
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Our annual draft night blog is mainstay among our most read stories of the year. The 2018 version was the seventh-most read story and the 2019 iteration performed even better.
Curiosity about the selection of Bitadze as well as a number of reported draft night trades involving the Pacers definitely piqued fan interest.
This story included in-the-moment reaction from Bitadze on the biggest night of his career. The 19-year-old confessed he was "shaking, literally" when he heard his name called and went to meet NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.
"This is for my family definitely back in Georgia right now," he said. "They're watching. This is for them. They came to my mind, the whole process. I was doing it for them."
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After his injury, Pacers fans were able to track Oladipo's rehab for much of 2019 via his social media channels and YouTube videos, but it wasn't until August — six months after he went down — that Oladipo spoke with the Indianapolis media.
While hosting a clinic at the Pacers Athletic Center in Westfield, Oladipo weighed in on his recovery and the Pacers' offseason additions. He discussed reaching out to each and every player the front office added to the roster to welcome them to Indiana.
"As a leader I have to go out of my way to make sure my troops are ready and make sure they feel welcome when they come on board," he said. "I just felt like it was my duty and obligation to tell them I appreciate that they believe in our organization first and foremost and that we welcome them with open arms, and we're trying to do something special."
"We just have a lot of weapons. Malcolm and T.J. Warren, Jeremy Lamb, all the new guys can pretty much score the ball at a pretty high level. It's going to be fun to watch. It's going to be fun to see how quickly we can come together and how we'll click and work. I'm looking forward to it."