The Indiana Pacers and Kevin Pritchard have been busy making moves in the offseason. One of their key additions is scoring swingman TJ Warren, whom they acquired from the Phoenix Suns in exchange for mere cash considerations and the 32nd pick in the 2019 draft.
Kevin Pritchard, Indiana's president of basketball operations, recently explained why the Pacers targeted Warren. He said that he fits the team perfectly as a multi-dimensional scorer who still has plenty of room to improve:
.@PacersKev says @TonyWarrenJr is "…the perfect addition to our team."
See photos from T.J.'s career: https://t.co/BqyIzPwpm2 pic.twitter.com/y9AHxRCPfB
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) July 6, 2019
Warren's addition helps ease the blow of losing Bojan Bogdanovic in free agency. Bogdanovic became the Pacers' leading scorer when star shooting guard Victor Oladipo went down. Perhaps Warren can fill a similar role as they wait for the former Most Improved Player's return.
As mentioned by Pritchard, Warren has always been a great and efficient scorer. He's a career 49.7 percent shooter from the field.
The only thing missing from Warren's polished offensive game prior to last season was 3-point shooting. In 2018-19, he finally showed major improvement in that department, boosting his 3-point mark to 42.8 percent (on over 4.2 attempts per game) from a combined 28.3 percent (on just 1.3 attempts per game) the four years prior.
In addition to Warren, the Pacers also stole Malcolm Brogdon from the Milwaukee Bucks. They also inked Jeremy Lamb and T.J. McConnell to multi-year deals. These moves will certainly help Indiana become a major player in the East.
The Pacers are now building a core of Oladipo, Myles Turner, and Domantas Sabonis, with the addition of Brogdon as a solid glue guy. Certainly, the addition of Warren as a go-to scorer will complement this team's other resources well.
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