Andrew Bynum impressive in his debut with the Pacers

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Andrew Bynum may have troubles with his NBA career, but it is not too late to overcome this.


After being an All-Star with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bynum was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in the summer of 2012


Bynum didn’t suit up in Philly because of injuries.

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed him this season but he was traded to the Chicago Bulls because of attitude problems.

The Bulls eventually waived him.

No teams immediately gambled for him until the Indiana Pacers signed Bynum in early February.

It was still unclear how much Bynum could contribute, both because of his health, his diminished production on the floor, and the eternal questions about his motivation and willingness to fill a role rather than maximizing his stats. 

As a Pacer, Bynum has the opportunity to play for a title contender, but he also must reconstruct his career as something other than a budding star. He needs to show that he wants to stay in the NBA, no matter how.

Bynum’s debut with the Pacers

On Tuesday night, Bynum made his Pacers debut in a 94-83 win over the visiting Boston Celtics. The early returns were quite positive. In just 16 minutes, Bynum logged eight points (3-of-4 FG) and 10 rebounds (three offensive). He also dunked on his first touch.


That’s not to say that everything Bynum did was excellent. He also committed three turnovers, a lackluster mark given his limited minutes. More importantly, Bynum did not always move particularly well on defense. Knowing head coach Frank Vogel’s focus, we can safely assume that Bynum’s defensive abilities will determine his playing time more than anything else.

But those per-minute stats don’t lie, and the Pacers have reason to think that Bynum can be a contributor moving forward. At the same time, we didn’t see a ton of evidence that Bynum is anything more than a decent backup to Roy Hibbert. The Pacers didn’t acquire a star-in-waiting. The good news is that, with Ian Mahinmi out with injury and the team in the midst of a middling run of form, adding a solid role player could do Indiana a lot of good.


— with reports from Yahoo Sports NBA

Ed Umbao

Founder of PhilNews.xyz | co-Founder of PhilNews.ph

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