INDIANAPOLIS – The sky is falling on the Indiana Pacers. Everybody says so, and everybody can’t be wrong. Can they?

But let’s be clear: The sky could be falling on the Pacers. Superstar talent Paul George could be leaving as soon as this offseason. Unrestricted free agent Jeff Teague could get the hint — psst, your hometown Pacers are about to plummet — and sign elsewhere this offseason. If those two things happen? The Pacers will spend the next several years dodging comets. Because: The sky.

It’s falling.

Tell you what. This isn’t a done deal. Let’s ignore that negative scenario — sounds like I’m asking you to ignore my first three paragraphs, which isn’t exactly how they teach it in writing school — and instead conjure up an alternative ending.

And here’s the thing: It’s not hard to find an alternative ending. A great ending, I’m saying. Not to spoil the surprise, but I’m talking about Gordon Hayward.

OK, I’m talking about a lot more than Gordon Hayward. How does this starting lineup sound? Jeff Teague, Gordon Hayward, Paul George, Thaddeus Young and Myles Turner.

It could happen for the 2017-18 Indiana Pacers, and I’m being serious. Would I bet my paycheck on it? No. But I’d bet yours. See how serious this is?

But seriously. It could happen.

The first domino — the mother of all dominoes, the tipping point of the Pacers’ future — is Paul George’s decision on signing an extension here. He hasn’t said he will. Hasn’t said he won’t, either. If he makes any of the three All-NBA teams, the Pacers can offer him tens of millions more than anyone else. Even if he doesn’t, the Pacers can still offer George a small fortune and the chance to go down in history as the greatest Pacer of all-time.

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Let’s say he comes back. That’s the point of this exercise, OK? We’re exploring what could happen — possibly, not probably — if the sky doesn’t fall on the Pacers but instead drops potential NBA greatness into their lap.

It starts with Paul George. If he signs an extension, I’m thinking Jeff Teague comes back. Maybe Teague comes back either way, this being his hometown team and all. With a nucleus of Paul George and Myles Turner, surely Teague stays at home.

And wouldn’t that trio pique the interest of Gordon Hayward?

Hayward’s interest in the Pacers surely is plenty piqued already, what with him being from Brownsburg and Butler. But it would have to be doubly tempting not just to play for his hometown team, but to be the player that puts it over the top. That doesn’t seem like a stretch, though Hayward — should he opt out of his contract after the season and become a free agent, as is generally assumed — also could be tempted to reunite in Boston with his former coach at Butler, Brad Stevens.

Finances could get in the way of all this — George and Hayward will be max-dollar free agents, and Teague will be close — but Pacers owner Herb Simon could decide to invest heavily and pay the luxury tax. Or, more likely, there is a Plan B:

The Pacers let Teague walk, sign Hayward anyway — he’s piqued, etc. — and replace Teague in the starting lineup.

With Lance Stephenson.

Only thing this story needs now for Google search purposes: a Kardashian. And there it is.

But really. Stephenson could play the point. At his introductory news conference last week, new Pacers President Kevin Pritchard talked about him as a point guard. And the Pacers rallied late this past season when Stephenson became the point guard of the Pacers’ second unit, which would take a beating if he becomes a starter. But so what? With a lineup of Stephenson, Hayward, George, Young and Turner, the second-unit point guard could be 82-year-old Fieldhouse usher Cleveland Harp.

That’s still an NBA championship contender.

Someone somewhere is yelling at me that Hayward and George play the same position! They’re both 6-8 small forwards!

First, George is 6-9. Second, Hayward has logged plenty of minutes in Utah at shooting guard. Third, the league is morphing into position-less basketball. Fourth, if an NBA court can accommodate Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant, then it can accommodate Paul George and Gordon Hayward.

Fifth, stop yelling.

Why so negative, anyway? Was it something I said a few weeks ago? Never mind that. And this. The sky isn’t necessarily falling on the Pacers. That could be the heavens opening up, beckoning this franchise toward the 2018 NBA Finals.

Or it could be raining comets. We’ll see. Whatever happens, it’ll start with a single decision from Paul George, the Pacers’ singular star.

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at facebook.com/gregg.doyel.