When the Indiana Pacers traded star forward Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, many felt it would be a down year for Indy.

However, a quick look at the standings reveals that the Pacers are 16-11 and in fifth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race, while OKC has struggled its way to a 12-13 record and is currently on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoff picture out West.

The Pacers have been a fun team to watch so far this year, and have an interesting mix of young players and seasoned veterans leading the way.

Whether they can keep this pace up all year remains to be seen, but for now, they're playing well and having fun doing it, which is exciting for fans of the NBA in general.

With Oladipo, Sabonis, Myles Turner, Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young, Darren Collison and others leading the way, it's a good time to be an Indiana Pacer.

Here are just a few reasons the Pacers have become one of the Eastern Conference's most exciting teams to watch:

They're beating tough teams

The Pacers recently ended the Cleveland Cavaliers' 13-game winning streak and now hold two wins over the Cavs this season.

However, those aren't the only impressive wins on Indy's resume, as the Pacers also hold wins over the Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs and others this year.

Despite having faced the fourth-toughest schedule in the NBA so far, according to ESPN, the Pacers are thriving. Whether they can keep beating the best of the best or not remains to be seen, but for right now, the Pacers are a confident group who can beat any team on any given night.

That's good news for Indiana fans, as the Pacers have games against the Boston Celtics, Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder coming up in the next couple of weeks.

They're getting excellent guard play

Oladipo has been incredible since coming over from OKC in the Paul George trade, averaging a team-high 24.5 points per game to go with 5.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals.

However, he's not the only shooter finding success in Indianapolis this season, as new Pacer Bojan Bogdanovic has also been lighting up the nets recently.

Oladipo is shooting 44.4 percent from behind the three-point arc, while Bogdanovic is close behind, shooting 42.3 percent from long range.

The Pacers are scoring 109 points per game, which gives them the sixth-best scoring average in the NBA. They can hang with anyone offensively, and that makes them dangerous in the fourth quarter.

Myles Turner is becoming an all-around star

Turner is in his third year in the NBA, but he's still only 21 years old. Therefore, he's still working on developing some of the finer aspects of his game.

However, he's showing flashes of brilliance on both ends of the floor, averaging 14.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and an NBA-leading 2.4 blocks per game.

He's quickly turning into a must-see player for Pacers fans, and if he can continue to improve as the season wears on, the Pacers may just be able to stay in the playoff picture and give their opponents a serious run for their money.