Tyrese Haliburton’s return is the hinge point for everything in Indiana, and the early read is a promising one. After missing the entire last season with a torn Achilles tendon, the Pacers star is reportedly trending in the right direction, with word around the team that he “looks better than ever.”
That matters because Indiana has spent the past year watching its title window get pushed to the side. Several Eastern Conference contenders loaded up over the summer, and the Pacers have faded from the center of the championship conversation. Still, there’s real belief inside the organization that they can pick up where they left off in 2025, when they reached the NBA Finals.
“Tyrese Haliburton returns from his Achilles injury, and the word surrounding the Indiana Pacers is that he looks better than ever,” wrote Brett Siegel. “With Haliburton back on the court alongside practically the same team that made it to the 2025 NBA Finals, plus the additions of Ivica Zubac and Kelly Oubre Jr., there is a lot to like about the Pacers.”
The recovery has been a long grind for Haliburton, and it has demanded more from him than he expected. He has put in the work, and the hope is that it shows once the season opens in October.
Even so, Indiana does not sound eager to rush the process. One report said the Pacers are preparing for a slower start as they ease their star guard back into action.
“Indiana may take it slow with their superstar to start the season with the hope that come playoff time, the Pacers will be in position to shock the league again,” reported ESPN’s Jamal Collier.
That cautious approach makes sense given what happened last year. Indiana came within one win of the championship, only to have everything collapse when Haliburton went down. Without him, the Pacers had no real path to compete, and the 2025-26 season turned into a frustrating stretch of NBA purgatory.
While Haliburton rehabbed, the front office kept building. Kelly Oubre Jr. arrived in free agency to add perimeter shot-making, and Ivica Zubac came over from the Clippers to give Indiana a needed interior presence. Those moves, paired with familiar pieces like Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, and Aaron Nesmith, give the Pacers a route back into the East’s upper tier.
The group may need time to settle in, but Indiana appears willing to wait if it means being ready for another playoff push. Haliburton has not played an NBA game since the injury, but when he does return, he’ll do so with the kind of track record that reminds everyone why the Pacers were built around him in the first place. In his career, he has averaged 17.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game while shooting 47.7%.
In Other News...
Pacers May Have Passed On Their Boldest Title Swing Yet
The idea of Giannis Antetokounmpo in an Indiana Pacers uniform is the kind of hypothetical that stops a season cold, even if it never got close to reality. The piece looks at what a Milwaukee Bucks trade framework might have demanded from Indiana and why the Pacers, with their roster as constructed, could have been an intriguing fit for a superstar whose downhill force and rim pressure change everything around him.
It also underscores the risk and cost of a swing that enormous, because any deal for Antetokounmpo would have required a massive haul going the other way. Still, the appeal is obvious: a player of that caliber could have put Indiana squarely in championship-contender territory, even if the article makes clear the scenario was far more fantasy than negotiation. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Add Four Undrafted Prospects Worth Watching Closely
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For Indiana, the signing is as much about maintaining flexibility as it is about sorting out the back end of the roster. If any of the four are waived before the season, they could still be in line for bonuses by sticking with the Pacers G League affiliate, the Noblesville Boom, giving the organization a built-in way to keep tabs on developmental options without using a standard roster spot. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Offseason Suddenly Looks Thin For One Painful Reason
The Pacers and Jazz finished with similarly rough records last season, but the way their summers have unfolded has looked nothing alike. Utah landed a top-four pick, added Darryn Peterson and Jaren Jackson Jr., and stayed busy by re-signing Keyonte George and dealing Walker Kessler for future picks. Indiana, meanwhile, shipped its 2023 first-round pick to the Clippers in the Ivica Zubac trade, leaving the front office with far less maneuvering room as it tried to add around its core.
Indiana's quieter offseason has only sharpened the focus on Tyrese Haliburton and whether he can get back to the level the Pacers need. With fewer obvious reinforcements coming and the roster looking thinner than some of its peers, the burden of making this team look like a contender falls even more heavily on internal improvement. For a franchise that expected a more active summer, the gap between where the Pacers are and where they want to be feels especially stark. [Read more 🡒]