The Indiana Pacers just got the kind of update that makes an entire offseason feel different. And they got it during a Summer League game in Las Vegas, of all places.
NBA insider Chris Haynes dropped the news courtside: the Pacers are extremely optimistic that Tyrese Haliburton will be ready for opening night of the 2026-27 season. That’s a huge shift from where things stood just a few months ago, when Haliburton was staring down a full year of recovery after tearing his ACL in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
That injury happened against Oklahoma City. And it basically ended Indiana’s shot at a championship. Haliburton went down, the Thunder pulled away, and the Pacers watched their first real crack at a title slip through their fingers.
Then the recovery got weird. Haliburton dealt with shingles on top of ACL rehab, which is the kind of thing that makes you wonder if the universe has it out for a guy. But he pushed through it, and now the Pacers are talking like he’ll be back on the floor when the next season tips off.
Life Without Haliburton Was Brutal
Indiana went 19-63 last season. That’s not a typo. The reigning Eastern Conference champs fell apart without their engine. Rick Carlisle’s whole system runs on pace and rhythm, and when you take away the guy who makes that go, you get a 19-win team.
Nobody stepped up to fill the void. Not that you could really expect one player to replace what Haliburton does. But the Pacers needed someone to grab the controls, and it just didn’t happen. The offense stalled. The defense wasn’t good enough to carry the load. And by January, the season was basically a long wait for the draft lottery.
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks ended up winning the Finals against San Antonio. Which is obviously not something Pacers fans wanted to see, given the whole playoff rivalry history between those two teams.
A Local Kid Might Help the Reboot
Indiana didn’t just sit around waiting for Haliburton to heal. They drafted Braden Smith out of Purdue, a home-state point guard who can handle the ball and run an offense. He’s been showing out in Summer League, and the fit alongside a healthy Haliburton makes some sense. Smith can take over some of the playmaking duties, which might actually help keep Haliburton fresher over the course of a long season.
It’s not like Smith is going to come in and be an All-Star right away. But he gives the Pacers another real facilitator. And with Haliburton back, that’s the kind of thing that could turn a 19-win team back into a playoff team a lot faster than people expect.
Haliburton hasn’t been cleared for contact yet. But the timeline is pointing in the right direction. If everything holds, he’ll be out there when the ball goes up in October. That alone changes everything about what Indiana looks like next season.
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