The Indiana Pacers' season is over. In the grand scheme of things, it has to be considered a success.
They made the NBA playoffs in spite of an offseason overhaul and change of direction. They lost a hard-fought series with the Toronto Raptors in which they were just one score down with less than a minute to go in Game 7.
Sometimes progress is measured by championships. Sometimes it’s measured more incrementally, and in that regard the Pacers had a successful year.
But how do they go forward from here, and what is the next step toward getting back to contender status?