The Pacers are banking on the return of star point guard Tyrese Haliburton and the addition of starting center Ivica Zubac to help them return to contention, Jamal Collier writes in a feature story for ESPN.com.

Indiana advanced to the Eastern Conference finals in 2024 and led in the first quarter of Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals before Haliburton tore his Achilles tendon. The Pacers lost that championship-deciding game to Oklahoma City, then were ravaged by injuries last season while Haliburton recovered from his own serious ailment, ultimately winning just 19 games, the fewest in franchise history.

Oddsmakers are somewhat lukewarm on the Pacers entering 2026/27 — at the beginning of October, they were projected to win 44.5 games.

“You can take [our preseason rankings] as disrespect, but at the same time, you got to understand we put ourselves in that position by the way we played last year,” Haliburton said. “There’s standards that we didn’t meet that we got to get back to. And there’s no secret that there was a drop-off last year.”

Still, Indiana is used to being counted out, and Haliburton says the team’s championship ambitions have “never wavered.”

“Finding that magic again, that’s no guarantee,” general manager Chad Buchanan told ESPN. “But our core guys believe in each other. They feel like people have written them off already. That’s what’s happened those two years we made runs — people just kind of discarded us. That’s what fuels them.”

Here’s more on the Pacers:

• Indiana recognizes it will take some time for Haliburton and Zubac to develop their pick-and-roll chemistry, but the team is confident head coach Rick Carlisle will find solutions if the duo runs into any issues. “We have a great coach who figures things out,” Buchanan told ESPN. “That’s a strength of his. If things aren’t going well, and we aren’t playing well — or [Zubac’s] not fitting well, he adapts.”
• While Aaron Nesmith was able to return to practice on Thursday after suffering a hamstring injury during the Pacers’ second preseason contest and appears likely to suit up next week in the regular season opener, the status of T.J. McConnell is less certain, per Zion Brown of The Indianapolis Star (subscriber link). The veteran guard been sidelined for the entire preseason due to an undisclosed injury, and Carlisle said “I hope so” when asked whether McConnell would be active for the October 21 contest vs. New Orleans.
• The Noblesville Boom — the Pacers’ NBA G League affiliate — has announced its coaching staff for the 2026/27 season. Former Boom assistant Bryce Taylor is the team’s new head coach, and he’ll joined by assistants Herman Mandole, Connor McCaffery and Kelly Faris as well as second-year coaching associate Christian Siakam, the older brother of star forward Pascal Siakam.
• In case you missed it, 2023 first-round picks Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard are eligible for rookie scale extensions through Oct. 19. More details can be found here.