Before the Pacers even got to the first question at media day, Tyrese Haliburton made the headline for them.
“I am healthy, 100% and ready to go.”
That was the message from Indiana’s star guard, who missed last season while recovering from an Achilles tendon tear. For a Pacers team that has spent months waiting to get its engine back, that’s the kind of update that changes the whole mood around the building.
Haliburton’s last full run was a strong one. In 2024-25, he posted 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. Across his Pacers career, he’s averaged 19.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game, and he’s already shown he can lift Indiana’s offense into another gear when he’s on the floor.
That’s why the injury stung so much. The source of the pain was obvious: Indiana may have won Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder had Haliburton not gotten hurt. Instead, the Pacers were left with a brutal what-if.
Now the focus shifts forward. Indiana opens the 2026-27 regular season on October 21 against the New Orleans Pelicans, and the roster around Haliburton has some familiar structure. The team added Larry Nance Jr., Kelly Oubre Jr. and Braden Smith this offseason, and HoopsHype’s projected rotation has Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac as the starters.
That’s a starting five with real punch on paper. The bench group listed by HoopsHype includes TJ McConnell, Ben Sheppard, Kelly Oubre, Obi Toppin, Jay Huff, Braden Smith, Quenton Jackson, Kobe Brown, Jarace Walker, Larry Nance Jr., Jalen Slawson and Johnny Furphy.
Haliburton’s track record is already loaded with production. He owns career averages of 17.5 points and 8.8 assists in the regular season, along with 17.9 points and 8.4 assists in the playoffs. He also signed a five-year, $244 million extension with Indiana in July 2023, and his salary is set at $48,924,624 this season, $52,298,736 in 2027-28 and $55,672,848 in 2028-29, the final year of the deal.
If he gets back to form, another extension could be on the table next offseason. And while nothing can be completely ruled out in today’s NBA - especially after the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers - the signs still point toward Haliburton spending the rest of his career in Indiana.
There’s one more wrinkle for the Pacers to manage: they lost their first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft on Mother's Day during the draft lottery because of the Zubac trade with the LA Clippers last season. Indiana had needed to finish in the top four to keep the pick after sending it out with protections, and the deal also involved two of the Pacers’ first-round picks to the Clippers, including one in 2029 and either this year’s first if it fell outside the top four or a 2031 unprotected first-rounder if it did not.
For now, though, the biggest development is simple. Haliburton says he’s back. And for Indiana, that changes everything.
In Other News...
Pacers Have An Obvious T.J. McConnell Successor With One Big Catch
T.J. McConnell has given the Pacers a steady veteran presence at backup point guard, but at some point Indiana will have to start thinking about life after him. Miles McBride looks like the kind of guard who could fit that role, bringing energy and depth at a position the Pacers will need to keep stocked as McConnell approaches the back end of his NBA run.
The catch is obvious enough: McBride is with the Knicks, and dealing with a direct rival is never simple. He is also looking for a contract extension, which could force New York into a difficult decision if the price gets too high, but the path from that possibility to an actual move is complicated by how rare these rival-to-rival deals tend to be. [Read more 🡒]
Tyrese Haliburton Puts The Pacers In A Risky Long Term Spot
Tyrese Haliburton is set to return to the Pacers after missing the 2025-26 season because of injury, and his comeback immediately puts Indiana in a tricky long-term spot. Even with his importance to the franchise clear, the front office has taken a wait-and-see approach, with GM Chad Buchanan and the team showing no current interest in opening extension talks for Haliburton or the rest of the core.
Haliburton is already extension-eligible despite still having three years left on his deal, which makes the timing of any decision more delicate. Indiana has to weigh the appeal of locking in its centerpiece against the financial risk of acting too early on a player coming off a major injury, especially with recent precedent around similar cases hanging over the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Enter Camp With One Big Question Around Tyrese Haliburton
The Pacers are heading into camp with a clear sense of urgency after a 19-win season, and the conversation around the roster has already shifted from lofty goals to much more basic ones. Tyrese Haliburton, Rick Carlisle and Pascal Siakam have all framed the year around a simple idea: become a good team first, then worry about what comes after. Kelly Oubre Jr. has echoed that tone as Indiana works to reset its standard and build something more stable.
The bigger challenge is figuring out how the pieces fit now that the group is adjusting to changes in roles and playing style following Haliburtons absence. The Pacers are trying to get back to a system that once suited them, but the team knows it cannot just flip a switch and return to what it was before. For a club trying to climb out of a difficult season, the most important question may not be how high the ceiling is, but how quickly the foundation can be rebuilt. [Read more 🡒]