Indiana Pacers Reportedly Plan to Take It Slow With Tyrese Haliburton This Upcoming Season

Tyrese Haliburton is expected to suit up for the Indiana Pacers this year after missing the entire 2025-26 campaign due to a torn Achilles. But according to ESPN's Jamal Collier, fans should temper their expectations upon his return.

"Haliburton led the Pacers to back-to-back conference finals trips in 2024 and '25 and was one game away from winning the championship, but will his presence once again immediately vault Indiana back into the conversation among the East's contenders?" Collier wrote.

"He has had extended time to recover and said recently he has been chomping at the bit to get back on the court. Indiana may take it slow with their superstar to start the season, with the hope that come playoff time, the Pacers will be in position to shock the league again," he added.

Haliburton's absence was keenly felt, as the Indiana Pacers finished 19-63 last season – good for second-worst in the Eastern Conference. Since then, the team retooled its roster, including swapping Bennedict Mathurin for Ivica Zubac and signing Larry Nance Jr. and Kelly Oubre in free agency.

Indiana Pacers News: Insider has optimistic outlook for the team in 2026-27

Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star recently appeared on CLNS Media's Celtics Daily with Bobby Manning, where he predicted that the Indiana Pacers can win 48 to 50 games in the 2026-27 regular season.

"A key thing to remember here, as far as Eastern standings, they won the East off a four seed in 2024-25. They got to the (Eastern Conference) Finals out of a six (seed) in 2023-24. They're good for leaving some regular-season wins on the table, basically. They have done that in the past. In each of those runs, they found a different gear once they got to postseason basketball," Dopirak said.

"They obviously know that they've gotta be top six. I don't think they want anything to do with the Play-In round whatsoever," he continued. "But I think they're certainly a team that says if we're top-6, we can get wherever we want. It's just a question of getting it, being able to play their style of basketball. Is it a team that's good enough to win 48 to 50 games? I think it is."