Bleacher Report is projecting a big year ahead for Tyrese Haliburton, picking the Indiana Pacers guard to land on the All-NBA Second Team this season.
For Haliburton, that would mark another major step after he missed all of last season while recovering from an Achilles tendon tear. He was already coming off an excellent 2024-25 run, when he 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.
Haliburton’s game has long been built around control and precision, and the numbers still back that up. In a Pacers uniform, he has averaged 19.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game. His career regular-season averages sit at 17.5 points and 8.8 assists, while he’s posted 17.9 points and 8.4 assists per game in the playoffs.
Indiana locked him in with a five-year, $244 million extension in July 2023 after acquiring him from the Sacramento Kings in 2022. His contract calls for him to make $48,924,624 this season, $52,298,736 in 2027-28 and $55,672,848 in 2028-29, the final year of the deal.
The Pacers are expected to open with Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac in the starting five, a group that looks strong on paper.
Haliburton’s return already carried a lot of meaning, and October 7, 2026, only added to that. He made his comeback at Iowa State, his alma mater, when Indiana played the Minnesota Timberwolves there. Haliburton bought tickets for the student section, and the university used a lottery to fill the rest of the seats.
He spent two seasons at Iowa State from 2018 to 2020 before going in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft. The school has remained a meaningful part of his story: he met his now-wife, Jade, there and proposed to her on Iowa State’s court when they got engaged.
The preseason also hinted that Haliburton is in a strong place physically. In three games, he averaged 16.0 points and 5.0 assists while shooting 52.8% from the field and 53.3% from 3.
There’s a real sense around Indiana that the worst is behind them. The Pacers may have won Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder had Haliburton not gotten hurt, and the loss still hangs over the story of that season. But the focus has shifted to what comes next, with the Pacers ready to try to shock the league again in 2026-27.
In Other News...
Pacers Trade Buzz Hints At A Bigger Plan Around Haliburton
The Pacers are entering the season with a very different kind of optimism, and it starts with Tyrese Haliburton back in the mix after his injury. With Haliburton under a five-year extension signed in 2023 and Indiana projected to push for a strong record, the conversation around the roster has shifted from simply getting healthy to figuring out how to maximize a team built to win around its point guard.
Bleacher Reports Dan Favale recently put three names into the Pacers trade orbit in Yves Missi, Jaylin Williams, and Jordan Walsh, a list that suggests Indiana may still be looking for a specific kind of fit rather than just adding talent for the sake of it. The interesting part is what that pursuit says about the bigger picture: the Pacers appear to believe this group can climb, and the next move could tell a lot about how aggressive they plan to be while Haliburton leads the way. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Suddenly Face A T.J. McConnell Concern They Can't Ignore
T.J. McConnells hamstring strain comes at an awkward moment for the Pacers, who were already relying on his steady ballhandling and relentless pace to help stabilize the second unit. The veteran point guard is expected to miss the first game of the season, and for Indiana, the concern goes beyond a single absence. At 34, McConnell has built a reputation on durability and an ability to keep producing despite physical limitations, which has made his value to this roster easy to see and not so easy to replace.
Indiana does not currently have an obvious answer for the role McConnell fills, and that puts extra weight on both the short-term rotation and the bigger question hanging over his future. His career has lasted this long because he has consistently outlasted expectations, but the Pacers now have to contend with the possibility that even one of their most dependable pieces may be entering a more fragile stretch. For a team that leans on him in ways few backups are asked to shoulder, the timing is hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Bulls Get One Encouraging Return As Another Injury Concern Lingers
Chicagos frontcourt picture got a little clearer with Zach Collins back from a quad injury, even if the return comes with a built-in limit. Head coach Tiago Splitter said the Bulls will be careful with Collins minutes, keeping him in the 12-16 range while they sort through rotation combinations and try to stabilize a group that is already dealing with the absence of starting center Nic Claxton to open the regular season.
The bigger concern is the one that could follow the Bulls all year: Josh Giddey is managing a wrist injury he picked up in the preseason, and he says it will need attention as the season goes on. For a team trying to keep its early-season footing in the Central Division, the combination of a returning big man on a restriction and a starting point guard playing through discomfort is the kind of injury ledger that can quietly shape everything, even as the Pacers have started strong and the rest of the division has already seen its share of movement. [Read more 🡒]