The Indiana Pacers are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000, and center Myles Turner believes their success marks the beginning of a new era for the league.
“It’s a new blueprint for the league, man,” Turner told reporters May 31 after Indiana beat the New York Knicks to advance to the Finals for the second time in franchise history. “I think the years of the superteams and stacking, it’s not as effective as it once was. Since I’ve been in the league, the NBA is very trendy. It just shifts. The new trend now is kind of what we’re doing.”
Recent NBA history has been marked with super teams like the Miami Heat in the early 2010s and the Golden State Warriors later in the decade. While the league’s top stars have been teaming up in hopes of finding NBA glory, Turner thinks that era is over.
Indiana & OKC Setting a New Trend
Instead of front offices compiling stars in their primes, both Indiana and the Oklahoma City Thunder are made up of young players on moderate contracts who play well together.
The Thunder entered the season with the youngest roster in the league (24.148 years) and the Pacers were the 12th youngest (25.263 years), according to NBA.com.
“The 2025 NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers is the youngest in nearly 50 years,” Lev Akabas wrote in a June 3 Yahoo Sports story. “The eventual winner will have the lowest average age of any NBA champion since 1980.
In terms of payroll, both teams rank in the bottom half of the league, spending an average of $167 million on their rosters this season. The Pacers and Thunder were 18th and 25th in the league, respectively, in payroll.
Rather than signing players on massive contracts in hopes of getting over their previous peaks, the Pacers and Thunder chose to return their young players from last season.
“This isn’t pure coincidence,” Akabas wrote. “The youth of the Thunder and Pacers is fundamental to their balance sheets.”
Pacers & Thunder Building From the Ground Up
NBA history has been highlighted by the best players teaming up in hopes of winning a championship. Now, other teams might look at how Indiana and Oklahoma City became the two franchises fighting for the 2025 NBA title.
“They are well-run, well-managed franchises who built championship-level rosters through smart drafting, shrewd trades and timely free agent signings,” Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix wrote June 4 in a story about how the teams rose to dominance. “The NBA has created a landscape where half the teams in the playoff field believe they can win a championship. And the other half think they are a piece or two away from joining them.
The Pacers became one of just a few teams to advance to the NBA Finals without a player averaging more than 22 points per game. The last team to win the championship without one player at that scoring average was the 2014 San Antonio Spurs, a franchise defined by team play.
Indiana has kept their roster largely intact since 2022, with Tyrese Haliburton, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, and Benedict Mathurin all consistent contributors for the last few seasons. They made the trade to acquire Pascal Siakam in 2024, but they didn’t send a massive package back in return.
The Pacers have eight players averaging more than eight points per game during this postseason, the mark of a team that has confidence in their roster in its entirety. Turner believes the same could be said for the Thunder, who also rely on their depth to win games.
“OKC does the same thing,” Turner said. “Young guys get out and run, defend and use the ‘power of friendship,’ is how they call it.”
The Thunder are led by MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but majority of their players were drafted over the last few years. Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Lugentz Dort, Cason Wallace, and Aaron Wiggins were all drafted by OKC after they received a haul of picks from the Los Angeles Clippers.
Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Isaiah Joe were brought to the team through trades and free agency. The Thunder added each of them to their roster as key pieces, rather than landing just one superstar in free agency.
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