The Indiana Pacers are being pointed toward Ochai Agbaji as a possible fix, with NBA analyst Dan Favale of Bleacher Report making the case that he belongs in Indiana.
That idea makes sense on paper because the Pacers are dealing with a pile of injuries, and Agbaji could slide into Rick Carlisle’s rotation without much fuss. He’s been through a strange stretch already in the 2026-27 calendar season, getting turned away twice.
First, he didn’t crack the New York Knicks’ final roster. Then the Oklahoma City Thunder backed out of an agreement with him after learning Chet Holmgren would be out at least eight to 10 weeks with a right knee injury.
Agbaji spent last season with the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets, putting up 5.1 points per game. The Kansas product is 26, and his NBA path has already taken him through the Utah Jazz, Raptors and Nets since he was selected 14th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. His career scoring average sits at 7.2 points per game.
Indiana, meanwhile, is trying to steady itself at 3-7 and is waiting on Tyrese Haliburton to come back. He has a left hamstring strain and is expected to miss about two weeks. That’s another hit for a team that already had to survive a full season without him after the Achilles tendon tear he suffered in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Haliburton has still been producing when available. This season, he’s averaging 21.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game while shooting 51.6% from the field, 37.0% from three and 86.7% at the line. The two-time All-Star signed a five-year, $244 million extension with Indiana in July 2023 after the Pacers acquired him from the Sacramento Kings in 2022.
He was also a major reason Indiana looked so sharp last season. In 2024-25, Haliburton put up 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 9.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.7 blocks per game and earned All-NBA Third Team honors.
The Pacers’ problems don’t stop with Haliburton, either. Ivica Zubac is also sidelined with a left ankle injury, and the trade for him has gone badly for Indiana. He played only five games for the Pacers last season and has appeared in just three games this season.
Zubac is averaging 9.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game this season while shooting 60.0% from the field and 50.0% from the foul line.
That deal also cost Indiana its first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on Mother’s Day during the draft lottery. The Pacers had to finish in the top four to keep the pick after sending it to the LA Clippers with protections. The trade included two first-rounders going to the Clippers: one in 2029 and either this year’s first if it landed outside the top four or a 2031 unprotected first-rounder if it didn’t.
When the Washington Wizards moved up in the lottery, Indiana dropped to fifth and the pick went to LAC.
That left the Pacers watching players like AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson come off the board in a draft they no longer controlled. For now, Indiana is left hoping Zubac can play like an All-Star this season.
As for when Zubac and Haliburton will return, that remains unknown.
In Other News...
Pacers Get A Chance To Answer Dallas After That Ugly Opener
The Pacers get another crack at Dallas after a first meeting that left plenty of bad blood and even more room for improvement. Indiana was handled in the previous matchup, and the game also featured the flagrant foul incident involving Aaron Nesmith and Cooper Flagg, a moment that added edge to a result the Pacers would rather forget. Now the focus shifts to the rematch, with both teams dealing with a mix of injuries and rest decisions that could shape how the night unfolds.
For Indiana, this is less about settling scores than proving the earlier showing was not the standard. The Pacers have had time to sort through what went wrong, and the rematch offers a cleaner chance to measure themselves against a Dallas team that already made a statement once. With availability still in flux on both sides, the game carries the feel of a reset, but it also gives Indiana a chance to show that the opener was an outlier rather than a preview. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Face A Brutal Test As Pressure Starts Mounting
The Pacers are heading into a stretch that already feels like a measuring stick for where this season is going. With the Mavericks and Wizards next on the schedule, Indiana is staring at a pair of games that could either steady a shaky start or deepen the hole it has dug with a 3-7 record.
Dallas brings a difficult challenge, with Kyrie Irving back and scoring well after his injury return, while Cooper Flagg has given the Mavericks a real boost in transition. For Indiana, the urgency is obvious: drop these games, and an already rough opening to the year starts looking a lot harder to recover from. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Fans Can Take One Small Comfort From This Brutal Start
The Pacers rough opening has been made even harder to absorb by the injury pileup around the roster, leaving Indiana at 3-7 and searching for any sign that the season can steady itself. In that kind of stretch, it is natural to look for a little perspective, and one place it comes from is the departure of Myles Turner, whose exit to Milwaukee was supposed to reshape the conversation around both teams.
Instead, the move has not gone the way the Bucks hoped, and Turners deal has quickly become a cautionary tale around the league. For Pacers fans, the small comfort is obvious: while Indiana has its own problems to solve, the team is not the one carrying one of the NBAs most damaging contracts, and the long view on Turners departure looks a lot different now than it did when he left. [Read more 🡒]