Braden Smith didn’t rush the process, and in the end that patience got him exactly where he expected to be: signed with the Pacers.
The 38th pick in this year’s draft said the nearly two-month wait to finalize his two-way deal never really shook his confidence. Indiana had already laid out the plan after acquiring his rights in a draft-night trade with Chicago, and Smith said he trusted that vision from the start.
“ Through the whole process, I knew it was going to end up like what they already said (with Smith on a two-way deal), so I already had that idea,” Smith said of his trust in the Pacers during the patient days. “ Plus, it’s a contract, and it doesn’t really need to be signed until what, November-ish?
So for me, I was just like, stay with it, get in (the gym), get better. That’s the main focus.”
Smith, the NCAA’s all-time assists leader, will spend his rookie year moving between Indiana and the Noblesville Boom, the Pacers’ G League affiliate. For the Westfield, Indiana native, the signing carried a hometown weight too.
“ It’s awesome,” Smith said of officially signing with the Pacers. “ Being from here and watching them my entire life growing up, and also being a fan of everybody and now being a part of it and getting to experience that, it’s an awesome opportunity.”
Smith has also been blunt about what comes next. After a shaky Summer League performance last month, he said he wants to “ be better ” and noted he’s “come a long way” since then.
At 6-foot, he believes one of his strengths is the ability to read the game and adjust on the fly, something that could matter in Indiana’s fast-paced offense built around feel and “randomness.” “ I think it’s more mental than anything,” Smith said of that skill.
“ At the same time, it’s also getting a feel. “
Jay Huff spent his summer adding size and sharpening the rest of his game. According to Tony East of Forbes, the 7-foot-1 big man put on 10-to-15 pounds of muscle while working on his conditioning and his jumper. Huff, who turned 28 last week, has spent most of the offseason in Indianapolis and has also gotten the chance to run pickup with Tyrese Haliburton for the first time after the star point guard missed all of 2025/26 because of a torn Achilles tendon.
There’s also a bit of stability attached to Huff this year. For the first time in his career, he projects to be on the same opening-night roster in back-to-back seasons, and he already has a level of security he hadn’t enjoyed before after his 2026/27 salary was guaranteed in January when he hit a minutes-played threshold.
“ Love not having to move,” Huff said. “ I love being employed.
That is really nice. … It was great.”
On the international side, Pacers starting center Ivica Zubac turned in a strong outing for Croatia on Sunday in a 2027 FIBA World Cup qualifying game. Zubac finished with 24 points on 8-of-10 shooting, 11 rebounds and two blocks, and he was plus-17 in Croatia’s two-point win over the Netherlands.
Croatia is now 7-1 in Group K heading into the next qualifying window, which is set for late November.
In Other News...
Former Pacers Star Victor Oladipo Makes Emotional NBA Plea
Victor Oladipo is still pushing for one more NBA chance, and this time he took his case directly to the leagues decision-makers. The former Pacers star and two-time All-Star penned an open letter to general managers, laying out his desire to get back on an NBA floor after years of grinding through setbacks and rehab.
For Indiana fans, it is a reminder of how much promise his run once carried, and how much adversity has interrupted it since. Oladipo has endured major injuries, spent last season playing 26 games in the G League, and even staged open tryouts this summer as he keeps searching for a path back, with the latest plea adding another layer to a comeback effort that still feels unfinished. [Read more 🡒]
Pascal Siakam Just Set The Tone For Indianas Next East Push
Pascal Siakam is already looking past last season and toward what Indiana wants to become next. Ahead of the 2026-27 campaign, the four-time All-Star laid out a competitive mindset built on toughness and aggression, a tone that fits a Pacers roster that has added Ivica Zubac and Kelly Oubre Jr. while waiting for Tyrese Haliburton to return from injury. After averaging 24 points per game last season, Siakam is positioned as one of the defining voices in a group that expects to stay relevant in the East.
For Indiana, the larger question is how all of that fits together once the season starts and the roster gets fully on the floor. Siakams approach suggests the Pacers want more edge, more physicality and more consistency as they try to push further up the Eastern Conference ladder, but the real test will be whether that attitude turns into the kind of nightly identity that travels in April. [Read more 🡒]
Tyrese Haliburton Gives Pacers A Reason To Dream Bigger
Tyrese Haliburtons return is already reshaping the way Indiana talks about next season. Even before he gets back on the floor, the guards standing inside the locker room is obvious, with forward Jay Huff among those praising what Haliburton means to the Pacers after he sat out the previous season because of an Achilles tendon injury. The Pacers have every reason to be thinking ahead, too, after Haliburtons outstanding 2024-25 campaign and the five-year extension he signed in 2023.
Indianas projected starting group underscores how central Haliburton remains to the plan, with Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac expected to join him. The lineup gives the Pacers a real chance to measure their ceiling against the Easts better teams, but the bigger question is how quickly Haliburton can settle back in and reclaim the level that made him such a difference-maker before the injury. [Read more 🡒]