Following his signing with the Indiana Pacers in free agency, point guard TJ McConnell thinks his new team is a contender for the Eastern Conference title in the upcoming NBA season.
After spending his first four NBA campaigns with the Philadelphia 76ers, McConnell joined the Indiana Pacers on a two-year, $7 million deal. The Pacers officially announced his signing earlier this week, and McConnell was asked why he decided to come to Indiana.
“I didn’t know what to expect in free agency. My agent said there could be a team or two that could come out of leftfield that we hadn’t talked about,” McConnell said. “I feel like that’s what Indiana did. One night he said ‘Indiana are very interested’ and I tried to jump on that opportunity. I have a lot of respect for this organization and I wanted to play here.”
Pacers guard TJ McConnell on why he signed with Indiana https://t.co/h2TdHtrcOs pic.twitter.com/ACgWfobx52
— IndyStar (@indystar) July 29, 2019
Even though numerous NBA teams wanted to add McConnell this summer, he chose the Pacers as he believes that none of those offers was attractive as Indiana’s.
“The fans love basketball out here,” McConnell said. “The culture that they have here, I have a lot of respect for it. The Pacers have great players and I wanted to be part of it. There were a few [options], but none with the opportunity like this one [with Indiana]. None that stuck out like this one. I sound like a broken record but I’m just extremely happy and blessed to be here.”
McConnell also thanked the city of Philadelphia, the Sixers organization, and the fans for the four years he spent with the team.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B0lTxX3HHpN/
The 27-year-old McConnell appeared in 314 games for the Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 6.4 points, 2.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
McConnell is likely to be a key bench contributor on a revamped Pacers roster in the 2019-20 season. He is already focused on what will be required of him as Indiana battles the Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers and Boston Celtics for supremacy in the Eastern Conference.
“I think we can do some special things. We’re very young. You bring in guys like Malcolm Brogdon, TJ Warren, Jeremy Lamb, you’ve got a good team. The East is pretty good this year but with the pieces we have, we’re right there with [the top contenders],” McConnell concluded.
