With the departure of Coach Nate McMillan and rumors swirling that All-Star Victor Oladipo wants a trade, the Indiana Pacers will need to make some important decisions as the NBA enters the offseason. Fortunately, the Pacers have done well in retooling their lineup in recent years, missing the playoffs just once in the past decade. They have done it in different ways, from drafting good talent to savvy trades, such as getting a couple of All-Stars in Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in the Paul George trade a couple of seasons go. 

Aside from the draft and trades, another way that the Pacers have been able to remain competitive is through the free agency market, whether it's by signing veterans on team-friendly deals or gambling on young players who end up exceeding expectations and playing their best years in Indiana. Here are five of the Pacers’ best free-agent signings:  

5. Tyreke Evans (2018-2019)

Coming into the 2018-2019 season, the Pacers were looking to build on Oladipo’s emergence as an All-Star and the NBA’s Most Improved Player. One player who was expected to help Oladipo was Evans, the former Rookie of the Year who signed a one-year, $12.4 million deal with the team. At that point had, Evans had already played for the Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans, and Memphis Grizzlies, but is a capable scorer and shot creator. But the team’s plan was thrown in disarray when Oladipo suffered a ruptured quad tendon in his right knee in January, prematurely ending his season. 

In his lone season in Indiana, Evans put up 10.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists while shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from 3-point range in 69 games. Despite Oladipo’s absence midway through the season, the Pacers finished with a 48-34 record, the same as the previous year. Evans would improve in the playoffs, averaging 15.3 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 43.8 percent from the field and 55 percent from beyond the arc. However, the Pacers would be swept in the first round by the Boston Celtics, which ended his stint with the team. 

4. Darren Collison (2017-2019)

In his second year in the league, Collison was traded from New Orleans to Indiana and played for the Pacers from 2010-2012, which included two playoff appearances. Five seasons later, after having played for the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, and the Kings, the point guard would return to the team by signing a two-year, $20 million deal. His numbers in his second stint with the Pacers are almost identical with his first two years with the team, but it was in his shooting percentages where he showed a marked improvement. 

In his first season back, Collison averaged 12.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 5.3 assists, shooting 49.5 percent from the field and a league-leading 46.8 percent from downtown in 69 games. He was the fourth-leading scorer on a team that finished with a 48-34 record and the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. His numbers the following season would not reach the highs of his first year, but he still put up per-game averages of 11.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, six assists while shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from downtown as the Pacers equaled last year’s record. Collison would announce his retirement from the NBA at the end of the season, but he proved himself worthy of the contract he signed after giving the Pacers two solid seasons.

 

3. CJ Miles (2014–2017)

Miles is a 16-year NBA veteran who has played for six teams, but his best years in the league came when he suited up for the Pacers. He was part of two Paul George-led playoff teams while in Indiana, and established himself as a threat from beyond the arc. He signed a four-year, $18 million with the team in July 2014, which proved to be a bargain since he was able to give them three good seasons. His first season with the team would be his best, as he averaged 13.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists while shooting 39.8 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from beyond the arc. 

He was unable to surpass his scoring numbers in his next two seasons in Indiana, but his shooting numbers improved each year, and by his third season, he shot 43.4 percent from the field and a career-best 41.3% from 3-point range. In three seasons with Indiana, Miles, who entered the NBA straight out of high school, averaged 12 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 41.2% from the field and 37.4% from 3-point range. He gave the Pacers three good seasons, with his deal proving to be a bargain for the team considering he earned just around $4.4 million a season while providing them with a reliable shooter and a good teammate. 

2. Bojan Bogdanovic (2017-2019)

Entering the 2017-2018 season, the Pacers were a team facing uncertainty after having traded George to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. The lineup was in need of shooting, and the team got that in the form of Collison and Bogdanovic, who signed a two-year $21 million deal after previously playing for the Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets. With the Pacers having the likes of Oladipo, Sabonis, Myles Turner, and Thaddeus Young, the Croatian was expected to be one of the team’s contributors, but few imagined how good he would actually be in his two seasons with Indiana. 

In his first season, he averaged 14.3 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 80 games for the Pacers, shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from beyond the arc, the first time in his career he hit above 40 percent from downtown in a season. In the playoffs, Bogdanovic, the team’s second-leading scorer, erupted for a career playoff-high 30 points, making seven of nine triples, in Game 3 of the first round against the Cleveland Cavaliers to help the Pacers take a 2-1 lead, although they would lose the series in seven games. Somehow, Bogdanovic improved the following season, finishing with averages of 18 points, 4.1 rebounds, two assists, shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from downtown, both career-highs. 

Bogdanovic became a sought-after free agent after his stint with the Pacers, eventually signing a four-year, $73 million deal with the Utah Jazz. Considering he gave Indiana two good seasons and became one of the team’s most dependable players while on a team-friendly deal, he remains one of the Pacers’ best free-agent signings. 

1. David West (2011-2015)

When West joined the Pacers in the summer of 2011, he was an eight-year veteran who had played for the New Orleans Hornets and had a couple of All-Star appearances and playoff runs under his belt. Indiana, meanwhile, is coming off a season that saw them return to the playoffs as the eighth seed after four years of missing the postseason. West is an established player who can score, rebound, and defend well, and his arrival would mark the start of the Pacers’ most successful run in recent memory. 

Indiana would make the playoffs in three of his four seasons with the team, including back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2013 and 2014. With head coach Frank Vogel putting an emphasis on defense, West would be an important cog in the Pacers’ playoff runs, together with George, center Roy Hibbert, and guards George Hill and Lance Stephenson. His best year with the Pacers came in the 2012-2013 season, where he averaged 17.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists while shooting 49.8 percent from the field. Indiana improved in each of West’s first three seasons with the team, as they won 42, 49, and 56 games. 

The only time the Pacers didn’t reach the playoffs during his stint was during the 2014-2015 season when George suffered a serious leg injury during a Team USA scrimmage and played just six games. West left to join the San Antonio Spurs the following season before winning two championships with the Golden State Warriors. Nevertheless, West’s scoring, defense, rebounding, and leadership helped turn the Pacers into a perennial playoff contender, all while he was being paid around $10 million a season, making him the team’s best free-agent signing.