Rick Carlisle left Las Vegas with a clear takeaway from the Pacers’ Summer League opener: Yuki Kawamura keeps grabbing attention.
The Indiana coach joined the ESPN broadcast during the team’s first game and spent plenty of time talking about the 25-year-old guard from Japan, who stands 5-foot-7 and already has 40 games of NBA experience across two seasons. Carlisle said Kawamura has a knack for making things happen the moment he checks in.
"He's an easy guy to like," Carlisle said. "He just kind of explodes into the game. When the coach points to him on the bench, he just flies up to the scorer's table, and then stuff just happens.
"He really knows how to play. He's seeing things before they happen.
He has a great sense for how to draw contact and put the defense in jail. He goes hard."
Through two Summer League games, Kawamura has averaged 10 points and 3.5 assists. The Pacers have games set for Monday and Wednesday.
Carlisle also gave updates on several other key names as Indiana looks ahead. Tyrese Haliburton, who missed the 2025-26 season after suffering an Achilles injury in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, has been back playing 5-on-5 for a while, according to the coach.
"It's going to be a journey for him," Carlisle said. "He's aggressively attacking the summer and looking forward to being back on the court."
On the frontcourt side, Carlisle pointed to Ivica Zubac as a player who could bring a different kind of pressure after the Pacers traded for the center in February. Zubac appeared in only a handful of games before injuries slowed him down, but Carlisle sees a real fit.
"We've not had a guy that can put the kind of rim pressure he can put on with rolls, seals, and (scoring) at the rim," Carlisle said. "There's great opportunity here."
And then there’s Jarace Walker, the former No. 8 overall pick heading into his fourth season. Walker logged heavy minutes during the Pacers’ rough 2025-26 campaign, and Carlisle made it clear he wants more than just production from him - he wants the right kind of production.
"We need him to be a star in his role as a system player for us," the coach said. "He has some star capabilities, but we're such an ecosystem type team that you can't approach things from an individual standpoint."
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