The Pacers have spent years getting overlooked, and that history is baked into the way people talk about the franchise. Indiana has never had an MVP.
It has never had a first-team All-NBA player. Jermaine O'Neal’s 2003-04 season is still the only time a Pacers player has even landed on the second team.
That kind of résumé sounds almost unreal when you think about how good Paul George was at his peak or how big Reggie Miller was in the 90s. Even Tyrese Haliburton, two years ago, still wasn’t viewed as one of the league’s top-10 players. The obvious explanation is scoring, but that’s a flimsy way to judge a player in a sport where impact runs way deeper than points.
If there’s one award category where Indiana has actually made itself at home, it’s Most Improved Player. The Pacers have produced five of the last 26 winners, nearly a quarter of the total. That tracks for a team that seems to specialize in players nobody saw coming.
And this season, there are several Pacers who could work their way into award conversations again.
MVP doesn’t really look like a lane for them, even if Haliburton gets back to full strength. Indiana’s style is too team-oriented to turn anybody into the kind of stat monster that usually drives that vote. But the franchise could absolutely add to its collection of individual hardware elsewhere, whether that means another Defensive Player of the Year, a third Sixth Man of the Year, or another Most Improved Player.
Ivica Zubac sits at the center of the defensive case. The new addition has long been one of the league’s most underappreciated bigs, and that reputation only grew as the Los Angeles Clippers superteam unraveled.
His value isn’t built on block totals. It comes from finishing possessions and cleaning the glass, where his defensive rebounding stands out as one of the best in the league.
If Indiana finishes as a top-3 defense, Zubac’s case gets a lot louder. And if the award field is thin - especially if Victor Wembanyama or other candidates don’t reach 65 games - he could wind up taking the whole thing.
Andrew Nembhard is another name to watch, though his path is a little more complicated. For Sixth Man of the Year to be in play, he needs both team success and a return to the role that brought him success before.
Right now, he’s slotted in as the starting two-guard. But after the Pacers’ gap-year ended without the breakout many expected, there’s a real chance his bench production from their Finals run becomes relevant again.
If that happens, and if he can push past any bruised feelings about the move, Nembhard could see his scoring and usage climb as a reserve on a team that doesn’t have much creation beyond its top three players. That’s exactly the kind of setup that can turn into award buzz.
Then there’s Jarace Walker, who fits the classic Most Improved Player mold. Indiana’s five winners in that category were all lottery picks who broke out in their third year or later, and Walker is lining up to follow that same path if he earns a spot in the rotation.
The Pacers have talent. More importantly, they have a chance to make the league look past them again - and this time, maybe collect some trophies while doing it.
In Other News...
Bennedict Mathurins Exit From Indiana Looks Different After Latest Twist
Bennedict Mathurins path out of Indiana has taken another turn, and it now looks very different from the simple trade-deadline exit it first appeared to be. After the Pacers sent him to the Clippers in February, Los Angeles kept him in the mix by tendering a qualifying offer, a move that left his future tied up in restricted free agency rather than settled by the trade alone.
Now Mathurin has signed a two-year, $16 million contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, complete with a player option on the second season. His representatives had previously pushed the Clippers to rescind that qualifying offer, a request that would have taken him out of restricted free agency, and the latest agreement gives his departure from Indiana a new backdrop as the next phase of his career begins elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Just Unveiled A New Look Fans Will Have Strong Opinions On
The Pacers gave fans their first look at a new Statement Edition uniform this week, rolling it out in NBA 2K27 screenshots that featured Tyrese Haliburton and Ivica Zubac. The design keeps a gold base but adds navy pinstripes, a look that is sure to draw reactions the moment it makes the jump from a digital reveal to the real floor.
The jersey also carries familiar touches like the Jordan Brand logo and a Lucas Oil patch, folding a fresh design into the teams broader identity heading into the new season. Between the uniform unveiling, the games player ratings and the rest of the offseason churn, Indiana still has plenty of details keeping fans engaged before the next chapter begins. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Have One Final Roster Spot And A Real Rotation Decision
The Timberwolves salary-cap housekeeping around Jonathan Kuminga sent John Konchar to Utah, and it also brought a familiar kind of fringe-roster conversation back into focus for Indiana. Konchar has long been the sort of connector teams talk themselves into because he does a little of everything, plays with energy and can fit alongside a lot of different lineups. For a Pacers club with one roster spot left, that kind of versatility is easy to imagine as useful in the regular season.
The bigger question is whether Indiana needs to force the move at all. The Pacers are not in a place where they have to fill that last opening just to fill it, especially if the player would be more of a depth piece than someone who can stay on the floor when the games tighten up. In that sense, the front offices standard is clear: the final addition has to have a real path into the playoff rotation, not just a seat on the bench. [Read more 🡒]