Limited Upside podcast: Can the Pacers catch lightning in a bottle, again?

Sandwiched between our latest pitches for the glorious (supposedly, weird) pairing that is chili and peanut butter, SB Nation assistant NBA editor Whitney Medworth (@its_whitney) and I joined the Limited Upside podcast hosted by Mike Prada (@MikePradaSBN) to preview the upcoming season while attempting to explain why the Pacers won’t commit to a full teardown.

Fortunately, Indiana already has experience rebuilding through the middle. Paul George was the 10th pick in 2010, and Lance Stephenson was a value selection in the second-round of the same draft. Roy Hibbert came by way of the Toronto Raptors agreeing to draft him for the Pacers with the 17th overall pick in 2008 in exchange for Jermaine O’Neal, and they used the No. 15 and No. 42 picks in the 2011 draft as well as the rights to 2005 second-round pick Erazem Lorbek to acquire George Hill from the San Antonio Spurs.

That’s all well and good, but they’ll still have to convince the next David West-caliber free agent game-changer to come grow with them during the rising age of superteams.

So, how realistic is it for them to recapture the lightning that facilitated them building those recent Eastern Conference Finalist squads without bottoming out?

Listen to that conversation along with the following rundown of topics, here.

More Sad Stuff:

• Yep, there was brief mention of the Denver/Cleveland three-way deal for Paul George that reportedly fell apart (sorry).
• Wondering if the Pacers will put Myles Turner in the right position to be the guy. Is he ready to be the guy?
• Questioning how the backcourt rotation will work with Darren Collison, Victor Oladipo, Cory Joseph, and Lance Stephenson. Why is Collison back, and what about Point Lance?
• Why Paul George’s exodus already has us thinking about the clock starting for Myles Turner, which admittedly isn’t fair. They aren’t the same person, but that’s how much this summer has damaged us.
• Would getting the 8-seed be acceptable if it meant Oladipo and Sabonis blossomed, or would it be preferable for them to struggle and get a top-3 pick?
• Begging Nate McMillan to be more willing to experiment, while conceding that he was dealt an awkward hand last season.

On a lighter note:

• Which player from Pacers history — not named Reggie Miller, Jermaine O’Neal, or Paul George — would make next season’s team more fun? Why?
• We ranked the ‘95 Pacers against the ‘98 Pacers, ‘04 Pacers, and ‘14 Pacers. Turns out it was a struggle for me to look past The Struggle. Whitney, for whatever reason, likes the pain.
• Who is on your all-time banana boat (i.e. the three Pacers you would most want with you on your vacation)? Whitney wanted to go fishing, whereas I struggled to leave work at home.
• We extrapolated our some-might-describe-as-bizarre peanut butter preferences into picking NBA combinations that shouldn’t work, but somehow might.
• There’s also some talk about predictions, best/worst case scenarios, etc.

Catch up on the other team previews here, or subscribe (and leave a review).