Pacers will play through West and Hibbert next season

It's all about the next man up for the Indiana Pacers.

Having lost their two best ball handlers in Lance Stephenson (free agency) and Paul George (injury) this summer, the Pacers will lean heavily on their frontcourt to generate offense next season.

Pacers president Larry Bird isn't disheartened despite being shorthanded. 

"Have our expectations lowered any? I don't think so," Bird told reporters Tuesday. "I think we'll compete hard and do our best to make the playoffs; that's always one of our goals."

"We'll play through David [West] and Roy [Hibbert] probably more,'" head coach Frank Vogel added. "And I think George [Hill] is going to have a big year. He was asked to defer a lot last year to Paul and Lance. I think he was capable of doing a lot more than he showed."

George and Stephenson led the team in minutes played last season, 5,650 combined. The duo also ranked first and third on the team in points scored, and first and second in total assists.

Comparatively, West and Hibbert combined to score just 252 total points more than George did all of last season. However, their usage rates (an estimate of a player's share of team possessions) were suppressed from having to defer to Indiana's wing players on offense. West ranked fifth, while Hibbert posted the eighth-highest usage rate on the Pacers last season - figures that should increase with the  offense flowing more consistently through the post.

As for the starting lineup's now-vacant wing slots, the Pacers have their pick among newly-minted free-agent acquisitions Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Miles and Damjan Rudez. Shooting guard Solomon Hill could also see a bump in playing time next season (see below).