When the Pacers took a one-year flier on Tyreke Evans to see if he could be their Sixth Man, the move was widely praised. Evans has been a terrific scorer during his decade-long NBA career, however he had produced those numbers mostly for teams in the basement of the league standings. Signing with Indiana was an opportunity for him to show what he could do on a team that was actually going to be in the playoffs.
The results? Oy.
Missing tomorrow night's game against Oklahoma City for personal reasons is just the latest chapter in Tyreke's rocky time with the Pacers:
Indiana can say it's "personal reasons", but given the myriad of excuses for his multiple absences this season, you can understand why I'm skeptical. Evans has missed time this year for being late, having food poisoning, and dealt last week with an "upper respiratory infection". Hmmm.
Regardless, he almost certainly won't be back in Indiana next year. Barring an unlikely late-season and postseason surge, I'd have to think his market value will take a bit of a hit as well as contending/playoff-level teams won't view this lost season with the Pacers fondly.