After it was determined that West would miss at least 10 regular-season games, the Pacers' top brass had to urgently look for a player on the free agent market who had some quality but was not expensive to help them tide over the storm. In fact, in fact, most of the relatively competitive players have basically been signed by the team, and most of the players who have not been signed by the NBA team either do not have enough strength to establish themselves in the NBA, or they are not satisfied with the base salary and go to other leagues in Europe and Asia to pan for gold.

And the Pacers have also been in constant contact with their favorite power forwards in the past few days, such as their opponent in the Eastern Conference Finals last year, Sean Battier. It's a pity that Battier has announced his retirement and said that he will not consider a comeback for the time being. They then contacted 'Hacker' Sean Marion, hoping that he could come to the Pacers to help fill the void. But apparently Marion didn't think the Pacers still had the strength to confront the Cavaliers head-on after injuring two big men in a row, so Marion turned down the Pacers' contract and threw himself into the arms of the Cavaliers.

The Pacers later even contacted Ye Xuan's fellow countryman, Yi Jianlian, who had played in the Bucks, Nets, Wizards and other teams for a period of time, hoping that he would come to the Pacers to fight with Ye Xuan, because they felt that Yi Jianlian's introversion and other problems would be easily solved when facing Ye Xuan, who was also Chinese, but unfortunately the reply was still negative, because Yi Jianlian preferred to get a stable playing time, and the Pacers' side was obviously after West's injury. Yi Jianlian's playing time will not be guaranteed, so he did not sign with the Pacers.

Eventually, the Pacers found a veteran of their time, Jermaine O'Neal. After a rough year with the Warriors last year, O'Neal Jr. didn't get a new contract this year, and while he still thinks he can continue to play in the NBA, other team managers don't. On the one hand, the Pacers are trying to let O'Neal Jr. fill the vacancy, and on the other hand, because after the Auburn Hills Palace incident, their dream of winning the Pacers' golden generation was extinguished, and now there is an opportunity to recall them, which can be regarded as playing an emotional card.

And O'Neal Jr. is obviously very happy to join the Pacers, although the current strength of the Pacers is indeed difficult to say how much strength they have, and after such a very serious injury as Pickled Pepper, it is also a question whether they can guarantee the recovery of combat effectiveness. But O'Neal Jr. is clearly not going to hold on in the league for the sake of holding his leg and mixing championships, he is just trying to prove that he can still play.

So there was no obstacle, O'Neal Jr. signed a 10-day short-term contract with the Pacers, thinking that he also wanted to determine whether O'Neal Jr. still has little fighting ability left, and if O'Neal Jr. can successfully integrate into the Pacers, I believe that the old man will also sign a veteran base salary with him to keep him with the Pacers.

During those days of searching for a reserve power forward, the Pacers headed to the Target Center in Minnesota to challenge their first preseason opponent, the Timberwolves. Without West, Coach Frank still didn't let Ye Xuan play, but the Timberwolves' combat effectiveness was really a bit miserable, and even so, they still failed to defeat the Pacers.

In this game, Rodney Starkey finally found a little bit of form, and did not fall behind against Rubio. And it seems that the Timberwolves didn't quickly clarify his core position after acquiring Andrew Wiggins, so it feels like the Timberwolves' style of play is still very scattered. And just like that, the Pacers beat the Timberwolves again at the target center.

In this game, the role players of the Pacers gradually found their sense and began to play their due strength, so many commentators after the game said that the Pacers' summer operation was very good, and Smith, the thorn head, played a greater role on the court than Shambaugh. and renewed Ye Xuan's contract, signed Starkey, and traded Hill. This series of operations also gave the Pacers a future.

After the Pacers returned from Minnesota, they finally completed the contact with Jermaine O'Neal and officially signed the 36-year-old league veteran. And then they had their final preseason game, heading to Time Warner Arena in Charlotte to take on the Hornets.

The Hornets have been in the NBA for ten years as an old hooligan team, except for the 09-10 season under the leadership of Stephen Jackson and Elvis Presley, Gerald Wallace, only last year led by Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson to finish seventh in the East, but unfortunately, the team's two experiences in the playoffs ended in being swept out by opponents.

This year's Hornets, in addition to Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson, spent a lot of money to poach Lance Stephenson from the Pacers. I think Boss Joe also wants to make a little breakthrough this season.

It's a pity that the Pacers obviously don't want to show mercy to their opponents, because this game is the last game before the regular season, so in this game, in addition to the newly signed O'Neal Jr., Ye Xuan was also rearranged in the starting list, and the result was naturally that the Pacers had an absolute advantage.

Unlike the previous two games, this game was organized in an orderly manner because of Ye Xuan, so the Pacers' offense was organized, and although O'Neal Jr. was no longer physically strong, his physical fitness was still good.

And the Hornets didn't have a good way to take Ye Xuan, so they directly asked Lance-Stephenson to displace the single defense against Ye Xuan, but unfortunately although Stephenson and Ye Xuan used to be teammates, they both knew Ye Xuan's breakthrough habits better, but he didn't expect Ye Xuan to improve so much after a holiday, so even if Stephenson came to defend Ye Xuan, he still couldn't completely block Ye Xuan, and after a few rounds, the Pacers took the lead again, and then the Pacers' benches showed off for a while, directly opened the difference between the two teams, and the Pacers finally won this preseason game.