As individual workouts have gotten underway at the Ascension St. Vincent Center and Pacers players have slowly cycled through their initial Zoom media availabilities of the 2020-21 season, they have inevitably been asked for their initial impressions of new head coach Nate Bjorkgren.
To a man, they've all expressed their excitement about Bjorkgren's system. But perhaps the two players who stand to benefit most under the direction of Indiana's new coaching staff are point guard Malcolm Brogdon and center Myles Turner.
Bjorkgren has talked about playing with greater pace and taking more 3-pointers. Indiana ranked 22nd in the NBA in pace and last in 3-point attempts last season under Nate McMillan, but playing faster and shooting more from beyond the 3-point arc plays to the strengths of both Brogdon and Turner.
"It's very free flowing, it's a new-age NBA (system)," Turner said. "I'm excited for what's to come. I think that I'll be able to have a little more freedom within this style of offense, be able to go out there and shoot the ball more and continue to be myself. I just think that it fits my style of play more than anything."
Turner took a back seat a year ago as Indiana elevated fellow 6-11 center Domantas Sabonis into the starting lineup alongside him. Because Sabonis exceled as a screener and post-up threat, McMillan utilized Sabonis as the "five" in many of Indiana's offensive sets. That left Turner often languishing on the perimeter as a spot-up shooter, often the clear fifth option in the Pacers' starting five.
Bjorkgren's offense promises to be more equal opportunity. While McMillan often initiated sets with a pick-and-roll, Bjorkgren hopes to utilize more ball movement and screens away from the ball, which will inherently make Turner more active.
Turner said Thursday he has watched a lot of film of how Toronto deployed big men Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka over the last two seasons while Bjorkgren served as a Raptors assistant under Nick Nurse. Bjorkgren has told the sixth-year center to be ready to be utilized in different ways.
"He's told me that he wants me to be as active as possible," Turner said. "He's really encouraging me to shoot threes. Obviously, I love shooting threes. There's three levels of basketball and I think that I can be successful at all three levels, but he really wants to see me get more threes up. So that's something that I'll continue to work on. My shot's feeling good right now."
Turner, a 35.7-percent 3-point shooter for his career, attempted a career-high four shots per game from beyond the arc a year ago, an incremental increase from 2.6 attempts in 2018-19. He only converted 34.4 percent of those attempts but could see that percentage improve if the increased off-ball movement in Bjorkgren's offense leads to more open looks.
Brogdon will also be looking to improve his 3-point percentage. While the 6-5 point guard flourished in many ways in his first season in Indiana in 2019-20, setting career highs in scoring average, rebounds, and assists, he struggled from beyond the arc, converting just 32.6 percent of his 3-point shots, a drop of 10 full percentage points from 2018-19, his last of three seasons in Milwaukee.
Much of that drop-off can be attributed to a change in roles, as last season was Brogdon's first as the primary ballhandler after playing off the ball as more of a spot-up shooter with the Bucks. The University of Virginia graduate said he has worked hard this offseason on shooting off the dribble and going to his left as defenses have increasingly focused on taking away his more dominant right hand.
Bjorkgren's system should offer some similarities to Brogdon to what the Bucks did in 2018-19 under Mike Budenholzer. Brogdon thrived in that offense, joining the elusive 50-40-90 club with excellent field goal, 3-point, and free throw percentages. His role is different than what it was in Milwaukee, but the free-flowing nature of Bjorkgren's offense appeals to Brogdon.
"We're in need of some creativity and I think that's what he's going to bring to the table," Brogdon said.
Brogdon said he reached out to Raptors guard Kyle Lowry and other players who played for Bjorkgren in Toronto and they all "raved" about Indiana's new head coach.
While Brogdon has been preparing all along to play in Bjorkgren's system, Turner was unsure if he would get the opportunity to work alongside Indiana's new head coach. The longest-tenured player on the Pacers' roster was the subject of widely reported trade rumors when free agency commenced on Nov. 20, though no deal ultimately materialized.
Turner acknowledged the strange feeling of dealing with trade rumors for the first time in his career, but said that open communication from Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard went a long way towards preventing any fractures in his relationship with the franchise.
"They called me and told me ahead of time, 'Your name's being thrown out there," Turner said. "'If anything happens, we want to be the first to let you know. We don't want you to find out on Twitter, we don't want you to find out with it popping up on SportsCenter and stuff like that.'
"I think that communication was huge and I respect the front office for that."
As it turns out, Turner is back for another season in Indiana. So, too, is most of last season's roster, as the Pacers return their top 13 players from a year ago in terms of both scoring average and minutes played.
With that continuity on the roster and a new coaching staff in place, Brogdon has high expectations for the upcoming season.
"I think this is a deadly team," he said. "I think it's a team that's slept on, though. I think this organization has been slept on for years now. But it's time for people to wake up. It's time for us to make a deep run in the playoffs, us to shock some people this year. And I think we will do that."
Photo Credit: Matt Kryger
Brogdon Earns Prestigious Community Service Award, Just Getting Started
Thursday was an eventful day for Brogdon, who was named the 2019-20 recipient of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award by the Professional Basketball Writers Association. The annual award recognizes "a player, coach or athletic trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community."
"It's definitely an honor to receive this award," Brogdon said. "I was just looking at a list (of previous winners) that had Kevin Love, LeBron, Damian Lillard…it had some high-profile names on it, not just on the court but guys who are doing tremendous things to give others great opportunities, especially the next generation."
Brogdon launched his Brogdon Family Foundation in July, which has two main initiatives.
The first is Hoops4Humanity, which strives to create clean water in East Africa. Currently the program has helped build wells in Tanzania and Kenya, though Brogdon hopes to expand its reach across Africa and eventually to other continents. He has recruited a number of NBA and WNBA players, including Turner, to help raise awareness and funding for the program.
The second initiative, the JHA Education Project, focuses on literacy, mentoring, and infrastructure programs for students in underserved communities. Brogdon is currently working with four Indianapolis Public Schools to provide high-impact educational experiences, including a virtual book club that he helped tip off in October.
Brogdon also has been outspoken in the past several months on issues of social justice. When asked on Thursday what message he would like to wear on his jersey this season if given the opportunity, Brogdon gave a poignant response.
"I'd love to see the rotation of these African-Americans that are being killed in the Black community by the police," he said. "I'd love to see those names on rotation on my jersey…there are hundreds of people at this point. I could have one for every game.
"I think it's important to continue to remind people (and) for it to stay relevant in people's minds throughout the season that social justice – that period is not over. And it's not even a period, it's not a moment. This is something that people are going through every day, that people are still battling. There still needs to be collective effort put towards changing the environment and the stigma and the oppression around the Black community."