The last time the Eastern Conference accounted for Tyrese Haliburton, the Indiana Pacers were in the NBA Finals. However, Game 7 of the NBA Finals happened.
A torn Achilles wiped out Haliburton’s 2025-26 season and cost them the chance to lift the prestigious Larry O’Brien Trophy. It also sent his team into basketball purgatory all season, and it eventually ended with a 19-63 record.
If he’s close to his old self, he won’t just bounce back and redeem himself, he could be the player other East contenders don’t want to see in May. Haliburton will have an almost intact core before he went down with the injury: Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin and T.J. McConnell.
Although Myles Turner signed with the Milwaukee Bucks, they also acquired another important player in Ivica Zubac.
They also shored up their depth with the signings of Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. It’s rare for a team like the Pacers to maintain its core after a losing season caused by a major injury.
The Pacers are expected to manage Haliburton’s early-season minutes as he gradually returns from an Achilles injury. The two-time NBA All-Star brings major impact to Indiana: elite pace, vision and clutch shooting that turned them into a motion-offense nightmare.
Haliburton remains the main engineer of the Indiana’s offense, and the team used it to post back-to-back deep postseason runs.
Without him, its offense collapsed, and it showed in its season record, which was the second-worst in the East.
The Iowa product, selected as the 12th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, averaged 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 9.2 assists and 1.4 steals in 73 games in the 2024-25 season.
Haliburton opens spacing for Siakam and Zubac, transforms Nembhard into a better connector and reveals Indiana’s true identity.
Contenders can plan for other powerhouse teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics or the Miami Heat, but a healthy Pacers team that already knows how to win playoff series’ is harder to script against.
Even though they are not the preseason favorites, Haliburton and Co. likely prefer this under-the-radar status because they like to surprise everyone when it matters. They are the giant slayers in the East, with incredible grit and a never-say-die attitude even when they are down by a lot of points in the last quarter of a game.
With their current roster, they could finish in the top 4-6 in the standings and be a tough matchup in the postseason.
The risk is still the full recovery of Haliburton and if he can play at the same level as he did before he got injured. If he does, one hot streak in April and the ‘forgotten Finals team’ becomes everyone’s nightmare again.
The East spent a year without worrying about Haliburton and the Pacers, but it’s time to give them the proper attention they deserve.
