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Pacers geared up for season opener, hopeful following off-season shakeup

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indiana Pacers are all set to kick off their season Wednesday night following a flurry of changes in the off-season.

Their first tip off of the 2017-2018 NBA season begins at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against the Brooklyn Nets at 7 p.m.

The biggest change to the roster will be the absence of Paul George, who was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Domantas Sabonis and former IU Hoosier Victor Oladipo. The trade came after George informed the Pacers that he’d be opting out of his contract the following off-season to become a free agent.

Indiana will have to find ways to replicate George’s offensive production, as the four time all star averaged nearly 24 points to go along with roughly seven rebounds per game last season.

While Pacer fans are hopeful that Oladipo can help in matching some of those numbers, the former second overall pick had trouble in Oklahoma City matching some of the numbers he put up earlier in his career in Orlando.

Sabonis brings a definite intrigue to the Pacer roster. The power forward is only 21-years-old and is one of the pieces of the deal the organization is hopeful of.

PG-13 isn’t the only familiar face who won’t be in white and yellow this year.

Key bench contributor C.J. Miles took his talents to Toronto in the offseason, leaving a void in the team’s offensive production from the bench that they’ll hope can be filled with summer signees Cory Joseph and Bojan Bogdanovic.

The shakeup brought about new uniforms that were introduced over the summer.

Joining Bogdanovic and Oladipo in the projected starting lineup will be veteran returning point guard Darren Collison, steadily improving Myles Turner and power forward Thad Young.

So how many wins do you think the Pacers will win this year? Lets us know in our poll above!