Indiana Pacers Hoping to Avoid ‘Crazy’ Situation This Year originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
It’s easy to forget that at the start of last season, there was concern that the Indiana Pacers would miss the playoffs.
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After making the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024, Indiana ran things back with largely the same roster, making the Finals in dramatic fashion before falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games. Had Tyrese Haliburton not torn his ACL, there is a very real case to be made that the Pacers could have won the title.
Months earlier, Indiana was 10-15, looked like their record, and had already lost key depth pieces James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson to Achilles injuries of their own.
Heading into next season, without Haliburton and Myles Turner, it’s easy for fans to feel hopeless, although the team showed last year, multiple times, that they can’t be counted out.
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With Jackson and Wiseman both finally healthy, and Jay Huff in town, the Pacers actually have more frontcourt depth than they did last year (toss in Tony Bradley), and a quality point guard in Andrew Nembhard.
“We’re thrilled to bring back Isaiah and James, an unnamed coach told Spotrac. “I mean, who the heck has two big guys tear Achilles’ in the span of a week? That was crazy. Those guys were poised to have good years for us last year. Now, they’re set up to do the same this year. And adding Jay Huff was big-time. He’s an underrated floor spacer and rim protector. No one can replace Myles, but Jay is going to be a lot better than a lot of people realize.”
With depth coming off the bench at all positions, the Pacers lost some star power but could be a dark-horse pick to make the playoffs, or at least the play-in, and if Haliburton is ahead of schedule like Jayson Tatum reportedly is, it’s foolish to count Indiana out.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 28, 2025, where it first appeared.