The Pacers’ season was over in April, but the building in Indianapolis hasn’t felt empty.
One assistant coach said the team’s facility has been busier this June and July than he can ever remember, a sign that the group is already digging into what comes next after a brutal 19-63 finish.
Asked about the road ahead in Indianapolis, the assistant coach spoke anonymously in a conversation with Keith Smith of Spotrac at Summer League in Las Vegas.
"Training camp? (laughs).
Look, it was a long year. We thought we had enough to stay competitive, even with Tyrese (Haliburton) out," the assistant coach said.
"But then you have like 10 other guys go down and it's clear that it's not year. But all of our guys are ready to get back to it.
I've never seen this many guys around the facility in June and July before, especially when our season ended in April."
Indiana’s injury list never really let up. Myles Turner had already departed the previous offseason on a four-year, $108.9 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, and Haliburton was ruled out for the entire season after surgery on his right Achilles tendon. That injury came seven minutes into Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
The roster kept taking hits from there. Andrew Nembhard was shut down for the second half of the season opener against Oklahoma City with left shoulder soreness.
T.J. McConnell was still weeks away from returning from a left hamstring strain, while Kam Jones was dealing with a back issue and Quenton Jackson had right hamstring soreness.
Ben Sheppard missed most of preseason, then started the second half of the opener. By Indiana’s third game, he was starting at point guard alongside Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Jay Huff and Isaiah Jackson.
The returns in November didn’t bring much stability for long. Nembhard played on Nov.
8, McConnell made his season debut on the 11th and Mathurin came back six days later. But the good stretch didn’t last.
By early December, the Pacers had six players listed out for one game. Obi Toppin was sidelined until February, while Nesmith, Jackson and Jones were still unavailable. Sheppard joined that group that night after starting every game up to that point, and a calf injury later cost him nearly a month.
Rick Carlisle ended up using 27 players over the course of the season. Jay Huff started 47 games and led the team with 1.9 blocks per game.
Nembhard made 57 starts and averaged 16.9 points. Siakam logged the most minutes at 33.2 per game.
Siakam was the steady force in the middle of all that chaos, putting up 24.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists to earn his fourth All-Star selection. Mathurin averaged 17.8 points before being traded to the Clippers for Zubac.
Indiana also made a late-season move for Quenton Jackson, signing him to a standard NBA contract on Feb. 28.
He responded with 9.2 points in 17.3 minutes across 30 games while shooting 40.5% from three. Ivica Zubac also joined at the February deadline and played five games before a season-ending injury.
Haliburton, meanwhile, was diagnosed with facial shingles on Feb. 22.
In June, he posted a workout video showing week 48 of his post-surgery program, and he appears to be moving toward a possible return for training camp, which opens on Sept. 29.
The Pacers went 2-3 in Las Vegas and also added Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. in free agency. Oubre signed a deal worth nearly $17 million over two years.
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