Rick Carlisle made sure Kevin Pritchard’s name was in the conversation.
In a podcast interview with Draymond Green on The Draymond Green Show, the Pacers head coach didn’t just talk up the players who have pushed Indiana from the middle of the pack into championship contention. He went out of his way to spotlight the man running the front office.
Carlisle told Green, "He's been a very underrated part of this thing of what the Pacers have been able to put together."
That kind of praise fits the way Indiana has operated under Pritchard. When Carlisle arrived, ownership had wanted a team that could reach the playoffs and rack up wins. But after a slow start to the 2021-22 season, Carlisle and the front office helped convince ownership to change course and build for what was next.
The result came fast. Indiana sent Caris LeVert to the Cavaliers for what eventually became Andrew Nembhard and Ben Sheppard.
Two days later, the Pacers moved Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, and Justin Holiday for Buddy Hield, Tristan Thompson, and Tyrese Haliburton, who has become the face of the franchise. In less than three days, Indiana had reshaped its future backcourt.
Since then, Pritchard and his staff have kept hitting on moves. The Pacers gave up two second-round picks for Obi Toppin.
They traded Malcolm Brogdon and got Aaron Nesmith plus a first-round pick. They sent Bruce Brown, Jordan Nwora, and three first-round picks out in the deal for All-Star Pascal Siakam.
Then they got back the 2026 first-round pick they had sent for Siakam from the Pelicans and used it to acquire Ivica Zubac.
That run of decisions is a big reason Carlisle drew the comparison he did to Bob Meyers, the architect of the Warriors’ dynasty.
"I've got a president in Kevin Pritchard who is a lot like Bob Meyers who built the Warriors dynasty. Kevin's a former player. He's got the relationships with agents and players, and he understands the game."
Pritchard has been around the Pacers organization since 2011 and took over from Larry Bird in the summer of 2018. Before Indiana, his path went through San Antonio and Portland.
R.C. Buford hired him as a scout for the Spurs, and two years later the Trail Blazers brought him in as director of player personal.
During the 2004-05 season, Portland moved him into the interim head coaching job after parting with Mo Cheeks, and he went 5-22 over the final 27 games.
He later rose through Portland’s front office, becoming assistant general manager in the 2006 offseason and then general manager on March 29th before the season ended. His stint there is remembered in part for the 2007 draft, when he took Greg Oden over Kevin Durant.
Still, the Blazers improved under his watch, going from 41-41 in his first year to 54-28 the next season, then 50-32 after that. Even so, Portland let him go the day before the NBA Draft, though the organization still kept him in charge of draft decisions.
That ending was strange, but it also gave Pritchard his first real chance to run a team. It’s where he crossed paths with Chad Buchanan, now the Pacers’ general manager, and later brought him to Indiana after Bird stepped down and Pritchard was elevated to president.
The résumé may have its blemishes, but the results in Indiana are hard to ignore. Carlisle clearly doesn’t. And in his view, Pritchard’s work has been central to turning the Pacers into a contender.
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