Chad Buchanan 2023-24 Exit Interview | Indiana Pacers

Chad Buchanan 2023-24 Exit Interview | Indiana Pacers

Chad how do you assess a season like this and where you go next when leading up to it and during it you even talked about the long-term thinking of the franchise but then you have such a successful postseason run I think going into this year our goal was within three years to be you know in the Eastern Conference Finals and we woke up you know and we ended up there in one year so uh a little ahead of where we anticipated being but it’s also a great spot you know our coaches our players really came together this year and to get to the Eastern conf Conference Finals and year one of you know of this is truly remarkable but it also puts you know us in a position of looking forward our job as the front office is always look forward and I think we’re still we want to continue to be contenders in this league we want to eventually win a championship for our fans and um you know this season was a great step I think in the NBA there’s nothing that’s linear you’re not going to just you know go to Eastern Conference Finals and the next year you’re in the finals that’s not how it works I think we all know that so so I think the challenge is on us to continue to find a ways to improve you know we saw last night a team that’s built to win a championship that eliminated us and we see areas where we got to improve you know both as you know the roster you know skill level um you know defensively things like that there’s there’s plenty of areas for us to improve and um I think that’ll be a focus for us moving forward with you know this summer and building the team moving forward Rick said step one of the summer is Pascal and his free agency situ situation what have your early conversations with him been like and what will those be like as the summer progresses yeah I don’t want to get too much into the contract stuff but Pascal was a great fit obviously we target him in the trade um I’ve liked him for a long time and I thought he came in and was a a tremendous piece you know to the puzzle for us and had Major Impact on the team both on the court in the locker room uh he was a great fit his personality his leadership his experience was very valuable to a lot of our young players and you know he had a great playoff run for us too and I seems to be happy here and we’re obviously happy with him and you know hope that you know this is something long term uh for both sides just to keep going on the first point I me what um what did these playoffs what did this run tell you that you still need um that whether that’s on a personal Personnel level or whether it’s on a development level what do it tell you that you guys still need to to make that kind of run I would say you know as you watch the team that eliminates you it’s always fresh in your mind you know what they did to to beat you and I think Boston obviously they’ve got you know more experience than us number one but they have a tremendous defensive Foundation um when we needed to try and score these last couple games has been very very challenging and they really came together and got stops when they needed to and I think our our players really recognize the importance of being able to to get stops uh as you get deeper into the playoffs and you know the good teams when they need to buckle down and make it really challenging for you to get a good good look they do that and I think our guys that’s one thing that I think we take away that’s going to be important for us moveing forward if we want to take another step is there a piece you think you need to do that is there a defensive piece you look at and say this this is something we don’t have right now you’ve obviously got a couple young guys that are guarding the best players Andrew Aaron 24y old guys have a room to grow but do you look and say we need something we need a particular piece to be a better defensive team yeah I think as a front office you’re always looking for ways to improve your team I also believe that we have a lot of internal growth still ahead for sever of our players we saw someone it this year with several guys that took a big step and I think there’s more room for growth with several of those players I think some of our veterans have room for growth too and some of this just continuity of keeping guys together the famili familiarity of playing together going through experiences like we just went through over the last couple weeks together will help us be a little more united but us as a front office we’re always going to look for ways to improve the team and you know that’s our ultimate goals to win a championship and if there’s something out there that makes sense for us we feel helps address a need you know we’ll be aggressive to do that but we’re also very pleased with this group and how they came together and um think that there’s still room for development with within their own their own roster as it is today Chad how do you approach the reality of this summer of a good team that’s also so young and how that kind of influences your next steps of team building a good young team you know is there’s lots of them out there I mean we were fortunate you know to get to where we got to this year but there’s other teams out there that are very comparable to us and you know trying to continue on this growth curve takes a lot of work internally takes a lot of work from your players to learn from the lessons that they just experienced over the last few weeks uh us as a front office we look at the draft we’ll look at trades if they’re out there we look at free agency those are our tools to try to improve the team but we’re always going to weigh is what’s out there better than what we have internally is what we have internally could that get to be at the level where what the trade opportunity or a free agent Market might be out there so you’re always looking at your own young guys what what what signs are they giving you that they’re going to continue to grow and get better you know are they good workers are they committed to putting in the time um are they committed to you know be a good teammate so we’re looking for those signs internally which helps you decide do you need to go external to try to add to the team and you know the draft this year were limited a little bit because we don’t have a first round pick but that’s not to say we won’t try to be aggressive if there’s something out there to try to help you know address some needs that we have there is a question to the Timberwolves that went viral last week about needing to lose big before you win big it feels like this postseason you were able to experience the winning big and then still felt the pain of quote unquote maybe losing big I mean can you put a value on the experiences this team has gained from April 15th until now it’s hard to to replicate a playoff setting for a young team for a young player as we go through our exit interviews today as you asked our players you know what what are you going to take take away from this experience and I think almost all of them especially our young guys said I didn’t realize the intensity it takes for every single possession for All 48 minutes and I think that is something that’s it’s hard to replicate in training camp you can’t do it in the regular season preseason until you get in a playoff setting where guys are literally playing for their playoff lives and their seasons are on the line do you feel that that amount of you know urgency that comes from playing against another team so I think you know what our young guys got to go through over these last three playoff series I think put in their mind how hard they got to train in the offseason you know a lot of guys I think maybe felt like maybe we ran out a little bit little bit of gas they were a little fatigued because of the long you played an extra you know whatever we played 18 games whatever we played and I think that took a toll on some of them physically and I think that’ll impact how they train in the offseason so that’s one benefit I think what that we’ll see that our players couldn’t anticipate or no way to prepare for that um but the intensity of a playoff game of a playoff series against you know like we saw you know the Boston you know team that’s the team that’s built to win a championship we got to experience that it’s hard it’s hard to put a value on that you know to put a label of what that means to a young group um you know Minnesota’s got a young team as well like I said there’s plenty of other young teams out there um and it’s going to be a challenge next year to get back to back to this spot but that’s that’s the goal and the goals eventually go beyond it Kevin talked a lot last year you guys talked a lot last year prior to the Pascal trade and prior to last free agent genc about wanting to be more aggressive about wanting to make a big move obviously had a lot of cap space and picks and everything like that with what you guys have achieved with the chemistry you guys have do you find yourself being a little more protective of what you have in uh at this point I mean I imagine you’re still saying you want to look for opportunity but are you a little bit more protective of the assets that you already have yeah the reality is we’ve only had Pascal for half of a season and you know he’s been such a big part of the team but he hasn’t had a full training camp with us he hasn’t really settled into Indie yet and I think that that’s part of our of our thinking you know is is we got to find the right guy if we’re going to make a big move you know our scouting staff we do a lot of work on backgrounds of players their work ethic their character what type of lock room influence they are and how are they going to fit with us so it’s got to be the right move if you’re going to make a move and it’s um you can say you know teams can go all in at the moment you know I think Boston’s a great example they did Peace by piece at a time you know Denver kind of did piece by piece at a time and that’s what I think is the model we’re trying to follow um you know trying to add piece by piece by piece and being very selective on what you try to add to to this group um but we’ll we we’ll always be looking out there um if there’s the right player that fits our timeline that fits our culture and fits our locker room um you know we will we will be aggressive but it’s got to be the right player Chad I’m sure it may depend on specific opportunities but how would you describe you guys’ luxury tax willingness after a season like this uh you know I think you know Mr Simon’s been super supportive of you know the Simon family has done so much for this organization this city um I know they want nothing more than to bring a championship as well and I think you know we’ve tried to be very conscious of building a team the right way with you know both character basketball fit you know finances um but I think if we get to the point where we feel like this is a move that could get us really into a championship you know spot um you know I think ownership will will get behind that but you know we haven’t gotten to that that point yet um and maybe that comes sooner than later but uh when it does you know I think our ownership’s committed to try to win a championship here you mentioned the draft earlier I mean how how just are you approaching those picks if you if you end up making the ones you have 36 49 and 50 what do you feel like you’re looking for and just how do you view again how how a draft that only includes second round picks fits in your broader plan here at this point it’ll be a little different this year with a two night draft we really the first rounds on a Wednesday night it’s like it never happens so we look at as have the sixth pick of the the draft on Thursday night um so we kind of have a lottery pick I guess you could say there’s 30 guys off the board by the time you get to the draft but um we’re not approaching it any different as far as our preparation I think when we look at the roster uh we have a lot of you know chance for a lot of continuity so you can kind of see where are the holes that maybe you just need to fill in roster Wise from a from a balanc you know depth chart but we’re always going to be trying to find the best player we can get too um you know you know we have needs at maybe a couple different positions potentially as you look at free agency and you know who’s coming back who’s not coming back uh but we’re you know with pick 36 we’ll probably try to get the best player we can get and if ideally it’s at a position where we have a roster depth need uh how are you viewing I know you’re not going to try to get too deep into contract stuff but how how do you view Obie toppen at this point in terms of how he fits for you guys longterm or if he does yeah I thought OB was a a had a tremendous year for us um he brings a lot of things that we look for and qualities in a person uh he loves being in the gym he loves being part of a team uh brings a great attitude a great smile a great infectious energy every day which adds to your culture and adds to the vibe of your team um we had an idea that’s what he was going to be about you never know till you get him in your building he’s around your team and he’s been uh Beyond everything that we we hoped he’d be and then on the court I thought he really blossomed as year grew on we we envisioned him being a good fit with a team that played fast and he was exactly that uh his three-point shooting really developed and improved as um we saw this year the way we play you get a lot of open shots and if you can catch and shoot you’re going to have some success and he did that his defense grew as the season wore on um and had you know Major Impact a lot of playoff games for us so very happy with the fit um he seems to be happy here too as well so um would like to you know continue the relationship you know it’s all part of the business uh when you get into the contract situation but really really happy with ob as a Pacer Chad what do you think of jerus Walker’s first season and what do you guys view as the long-term plan for him going forward sure when we drafted jarus I think we saw potential for a two-way player I think we saw potential for a guy that could make plays with the ball uh could really pass had a high IQ we saw him as probably a backup four maybe early in his career whether that was his first year second year whenever that have long that took and as we got into the season you know as he got experiened playing the G league as we watched him in practice his three-point shooting really came along which was a great you know surprise for us I could say uh and we saw more potential of him playing some Wing position minutes which is valuable the more positions a guy can play the more valuable he becomes he obviously didn’t get a ton of opportunity this year and that was you know reflective I mean going back to Obi he played 8 82 games this year which is a badge of honor in the NBA and so some of it takes you know things got to fall into place for a young player to get an opportunity and it didn’t happen very often for jarus but doesn’t have anything to say about our belief in him long term uh as we told him in his exit interview you know your growth and development is a big component of us taking another step whether that’s you know immediately or year or two down the road but um we still big Believers and jarus and think there’s a lot of things that he can do uh that this roster needs this is the first summer that the new CBA allows you to negotiate with your own players right after the finals how do you anticipate that changing just the whole league sort of operation in that period And do you think it can be Advantage for you guys you know in general I think you see more guys getting extended before the hit free agency I think teams are very conscious of trying to you know keep continuity with their roster um you know we we like this group you know how it applies to us um there are guys you know we would like to retain um but as far as the league as a whole I think you know teams are doing this very often um you have a player that you like that fits your team and you want to get them they’re happy you’re happy with them you try to get an early extension and I think you’re seeing more and more of that around the league and you’ll continue to see more of that I know you’re probably not going to answer but I’ll ask are you guys gonna make a Max offer to Pascal you’re probably not gonna say so but I’m gonna try yeah I can’t answer that one sorry it was February of 2022 when the franchise sort of pivoted a little bit to 28 months later be here is kind of I’m sure the Envy of a lot of other organizations that have had to take a lot longer time what’s been the key to um accelerating this the way you have I you got first give credits to coach Carla and his staff I mean they’ve bought into uh a longer term Outlook you know with this team they’ve committed themselves to getting our young players better every day you guys are here you see them before practice after practice and they are out here working sweating with these guys and so that growth and development has been a big part of how we’ve gotten to where we’re at our veterans have been great Locker room guys they’ve been very productive on the court from TJ to Miles um Pascal um you know James Johnson in his own way those guys have been instrumental in building a culture of you know positivity every day when you come into the gym belief in each other a togetherness you know you watch our team play I we watch our team play every day so you you kind of take for granted the togetherness the unselfishness uh the ball moving as much as it does cuz you see it every single day and then you talk to other teams other personnel and you know we’re at the NBA draft interviewing kids for the combine and they’re talking about how fast we play how much the ball moves and you kind of like take it for granted until you hear other people talk about your team and so um really it goes back to our coaching staff for creating this culture and we’ve got great leadership in the locker room and guys who love being around each other and uh that makes for an 82 Game season you don’t want it to end you know there’s Seasons where yeah you guys maybe don’t like being around each other and they don’t share the ball and it’s the you know guys come in Moody into the gym and 82 games can feel like 800 games and it just feels like you’re just ready for it to end as whereas I think last night in that locker room nobody won the season to end and that’s just reflective of the culture that uh Rick and the coaches have built here take keep going on Rick I mean what have you what has been your assessment of the job he’s done since you guys hired him two years ago I think he’s been phenomenal I mean he’s he’s accepted you know like I said a essentially a team that’s kind of rebuilding down a different path and um he’s a Hall of Fame coach he’s won a championship and you know he could have easily said I’m not going to coach a team that’s you know going to take a longer term look and uh to his credit he embraced it and he’s loved it you know he loves teaching young players that are receptive to being coached um he loves being around a team that’s got great leadership he’s got a great staff that supports him um you know he’s a very creative he’s built one of the best you know offenses this league seen in a long long time this season and you know it’s a joy to be around the the players respect the crap out of him I mean he’s he’s just a smart brilliant basketball mind and he’s done a phenomenal job for us think uh you mentioned TJ before obious I think he comes into next year with a with a contract that’s not fully guaranteed um how did what he did this year change your long-term thing on him you guys obviously had a lot of respect for who he was as a competitor but the fact that he had his best season at 32 at you know in his ninth year what did that change for you guys in terms of how you got to view his long-term future phenomenal year for TJ I mean I think you we were kind of joking his exit interview if he would have a journal from the start of the season to the end what that would have been some mustsee or must read however you say that um from where it started for what he thought the situation was going to be uh maybe not playing not in the rotation to you know being you know compared to Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference Finals by Jaylen Brown that’s quite the contrast from start to finish but I mean how I don’t know what you can say more about TJ what he has meant you know to this team um but beloved by his teammates his coaches the staff the fans I mean he’s uh what you want an Indiana Pacer to be about and you know this season I mean he’s 32 years old but he’s not slowing down I mean I don’t think you see any sign of a guy an aging player uh he’s still got his competitive Drive um he still brings it every single night uh very effective at the highest level we saw over the last couple weeks and his shooting’s improved and you know his value to us um is obviously is is very very high and that is not changed by anything that happened this year and uh hope that he’s with us for a long time as well because you have a younger team does that make it I don’t know if this is the perfect word more appetizing to run it back because it’s a team that can grow and still be better just by having continuity it’s one one route that we’ve looked hard at you know you always got to look and see what’s out there on the market is there a player or players out there that are available that make sense for your team um you know you’re also very excited about the young core we have and so it’s it’s it’s a balance you know it’s it’s going to be a lot of discussions a lot of debate um and maybe there’s nothing out there that makes sense and we’re fine with that we we really like this team uh if we come back with the same group next year we still believe there’s a lot of long-term upside with this group there’s several young players that are you know we had two two guys two lottery picks that didn’t play a single minut in the playoffs for us this year um it’s still we’re very excited about both Ben and jerus um I think Isaiah Jackson still has a lot of upside left in him I think Aaron neith Andrew Nar we have so many guys I’m not even talking about Tyrese you know Tyrese is still a young player I mean we had two-thirds of our roster was basically on the rookie scale contract and so we’re still a lot a lot of excitement around what we have if we bring back this same group we still feel like there’s room for for growth with this with this staff or this team if you just keep the status quo

Chad Buchanan speaks to the media following the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.