He tries to dismiss everything that has happened to the Indiana Pacers, in the past year and a half, as simply the work of some revenge, unfairly punishing an innocent fantasy that never deserved anything from the injury of the disaster and the lottery of such a loss that would sink some freedom in Indiana or in the Moon. And let’s stop by hand. But let go of enough hands, and the cumulative effect of this bad luck will begin to slip through our fingers, like grains of sand grinding into a castle the size of Gainsborough Fieldhouse, threatening to overwhelm us all if we don’t make infrastructure improvements.
I left the Pacers for the coming year, though I never found the time to eat anyway that will take the preseason with the NFL kicking off and MLB bidding for the World Series and then World War III. — just believe what I said to my editors. My concern lay in the fact that the 50-32 Pacers team raised in 2024-25 shot one of the most absurd stretch fatigues ever-making it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals, losing Tyrese Haliburton to a torn Achilles in one of the funniest injuries in NBA history, losing Game 7, losing Myles Turner to some Buck stupidity, and then going 19-63 (yes). nine and sixty three) The next year with the roster I thought… not. it was that guilty
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Every time I’ve heard the Pacers take a year from people in the NBA media, I’ve started and ended with the same two words: “space year.” This 19-63 record was, of course, intentional, as the team used the top draft pick to return to play with Haliburton the following season. But then they made a splashy move, carrying that draft audaciously 50-50 with the Clippers for Ivica Zubac, keeping the Rangers in a sure way that if he fell out of the top four, they would lose it. Well…he did, and their 19-63 record netted nothing in one of the most stacked top four we’ve ever seen. Again: MISERABLE.
2026 Then the thing itself flew round and round, and the solid roster looked on; at least, it would be a collision, if not actually finals fight with your heart And it was going reasonably well for about seven minutes until Haliburton injured his hamstring (like you’re serious now) and the rest of the team got injured along with him. Now 3-6, last week’s lineups would make you think they’d tank again.
Their players will slowly return in time, but the public question must be asked (right, not “is this team prone to injury?” which is a stupid question): do the Pacers have the numbers to resist as well. one injury, and can this group survive a wide open but packed eastern conference, along with the affection of the sports teams that popped out of the pants? Betting markets aren’t really sure what to expect, with Indiana holding the ninth-best odds in the East at 18-1 on FanDuel. Boston, New York and Philadelphia are completely out of the top group, and not even in the second half of Toronto, Detroit and Cleveland.
These things are planned, and they ask one of the questions: are they fully healthy, do they contend for the Pacers in the first place?
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Argument for* In Indiana coming into the year, Tyrese Haliburton was basically one of the five greatest players in the league, if not actually one of the five best. Of course, last year was tanking, but many played in the NBA Finals with Indiana’s number a decent number of games in 2025-26 and they still couldn’t win at twenty. Except for this one of the most well-organized, well-coordinated teams in history, with the unusual buy-in of … Pascal Siakam, the only explanation for the 19-63 record was Haliburton’s basically Michael Jordan-level big for Indiana.
But he was sure of all the keys. But none of the more advanced states suggested that he brought the company back to the letter exhale without Haliburton. Net Rating isn’t some god, and I often found myself confused as to how the Pacers lost everyone game, despite having a significant talent advantage over the other teams in the bracket.
It’s going a long way to say that I don’t think it’s a good roster, and I think the finals run is more of an impregnable party than the actual quality of Indiana basketball. If you accept that (not allowed, but just… accept; for now the grammar of the next clause works), your sentence. this The Pacers team in 2026 comes down to how they feel about their upgrades — Kelly Oubre Jr. It’s a nice deep horn, but Ivica Zubac is a money problem. Is he better than Myles Turner was in 2024?
I think it was at Tyrese Haliburton’s. Haliburton is one of the board’s top picks for big men, and Zubac needs him on the floor to lift the heavy game beyond simple, interior circles. Sidebar: I saw a Pacers fan complaining on Reddit that he doesn’t feel like Zubac even looks to shoot the three-pointer even when it’s wide open, which I find hysterical since he’s made a single 3-pointer in his 11-year career. But hey, it’s open.
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So far, though, Zubac has been an inspiration to the Pacers, and he hasn’t been a special defender in a few years like Turner was in his prime (yes, this is the first time Myles Turner has denounced him, have you watched a Bucks game lately?). Zubac’s walk should be a double for the Pacers to raise the ceiling.
Without Haliburtoun, this is all completely moot. You’re just safe now, wherever they find them, the wins pile up, until they can bring back a competent number at night. But even with the Haliburtoun, I think this blade might be the only arguable plastic hammer to bring to a knife fight. Like, maybe you can block some bars and win a hand to hand fight, and nobody in the Eastern Conference has a gun…but we have He wonders about the plastic hammer. And now, it has a hole in it.