Pacers Offseason Recap and 2026-27 Preview: Haliburton's Return Fuels Expectations

The Indiana Pacers have experienced some of the highest highs and lowest lows the NBA has to offer the last two season and they now enter the 2026-27 season healthy and with a fresh outlook.

Two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton returns after a torn Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 Finals kept him out all of last season, and with him come the expectations that the Pacers will be back in the Eastern Conference playoff mix. Indiana missed out on a potential top four pick in June's draft, but still acquired Ivica Zubac at last year's trade deadline to pair with Haliburton.

Pascal Siakam also returns to help the Pacers bounce back from a 19-63 record last season, and the team brought in Kelly Oubre Jr . and Larry Nance Jr . to add depth to an already experienced roster.

Will Haliburton's return in Indianapolis be enough to make the Pacers a contender in the upgraded East?

ESPN's staff of experts is looking back at the offseason and taking an early look at the 2026-27 season for all 30 teams, with 30 pieces -- one for every team -- rolling out each weekday through Sept. 18. We're answering the biggest looming questions, evaluating X factors and much more for all 30 teams.

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Offseason at a glance

Key additions: Kelly Oubre Jr., Larry Nance Jr.

Key retentions: None

Key subtractions: C Micah Potter

The Pacers didn't make any major offseason changes, but they will have two major additions to the roster they were missing last year: starting center Ivica Zubac, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Clippers, and star guard Tyrese Haliburton, returning from injury for the first time since the 2025 NBA Finals. Haliburton's presence lifted the Pacers into an Eastern Conference contender in 2024 and '25, and 16 months after a torn Achilles, they'll be counting on him to do the same in 2027. And Zubac will provide a different kind of center than Myles Turner provided the last time Haliburton was on the court. -- Jamal Collier

Zach Kram's offseason grade : B-

The Pacers embarked on their summer activity early, dealing a big package -- which included the eventual No. 5 pick -- for Ivica Zubac at the trade deadline in February.

Since the offseason began, they've focused exclusively on their bench, adding Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. on short-term deals. The next potential order of business is extension talks for Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, though that's not a pressing concern because both players are still under contract for multiple years. -- Kram

From Ben Golliver's offseason lessons piece : Indiana has everything it needs for a bungee jump season.

The Pacers deservedly caught some grief over the finer points of their midseason trade for center Ivica Zubac, which wound up costing them the No. 5 pick in June's draft. Kevin Pritchard, Indiana's president, won't hear the end of it if Keaton Wagler blossoms into a star for the LA Clippers .

Nevertheless, Zubac is a clear upgrade over Myles Turner, Indiana's starting center during its surprising run to the 2025 Finals. After plummeting from 50 wins in 2024-25 to a 19-win gap season while franchise guard Tyrese Haliburton recovered from an Achilles injury, the Pacers are poised to bounce right back up the standings.

Finding a capable center was Indiana's top priority during Haliburton's absence, and Zubac outperformed Turner last season in scoring, rebounding, player efficiency rating and win shares. Otherwise, the Pacers bring back plenty of familiar faces from their Finals run, including Pascal Siakam, Aaron Nesmith , Andrew Nembhard , T.J. McConnell and Obi Toppin . Veteran coach Rick Carlisle hasn't gone anywhere, either.

Pessimists will argue that the Pacers caught lightning in a bottle two years ago, and that replicating their magical late-season run is too much to ask. Maybe so, but Haliburton's unique ability to get the most out of his teammates should restore Indiana to respectability. -- Golliver

Aside from Haliburton's brilliance and late game heroics, one the strengths for the Pacers during their NBA Finals run two seasons ago was the depth of their bench. Some of that depth has dwindled in the past year. Bennedict Mathurin has moved on, T.J. McConnell declined a bit last season without Haliburton and the Pacers haven't found another key reserve to pick up the slack. Rick Carlisle has been one of the best coaches in the league at pushing the right buttons with his rotation, and especially if the team plans to ease Haliburton back from injury at all, they will need to lean on their depth to get through the regular season. -- Collier

Here are the predicted Net Points per 100 possessions for the Pacers' top seven players for the 2026-27 season:

Haliburton was taken No. 12 in the 2020 draft and was quickly traded from his original team, but is arguably the best player from that Draft, ahead of No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards . He doesn't score as much and has been named only All-NBA Third Team compared to Edwards' Second Teams, but Haliburton has posted better performance across most player metrics: EPM, LEBRON, xRAPM, Net Points (not DARKO). -- Dean Oliver

Read about how Net Points works here .

Biggest injury returns for the 2026-27 NBA season

Biggest X factor

Ivica Zubac

Essentially the entire Pacers rotation that reached the 2024-25 Finals will return next season, with Haliburton back -- but with one key exception. Myles Turner fit into Indiana's system because of his shot-blocking prowess and 3-point spacing, but Zubac is a superior center overall. At his best, Zubac has been an All-Defensive honoree and All-NBA candidate.

He wasn't at his best last season, however, and now he's 29 years old, recovering from a broken rib and adjusting to a drastically different system than he's ever played in before. (He played just five games for the Haliburton-less Pacers after last season's trade.) Zubac might offer a lower floor than Turner, just because of his uncertain fit with the up-tempo Pacers. But his ceiling is much higher. -- Kram

Fantasy insight ahead of the season: The Pacers finished 12th in the NBA in assists last season (27.7 APG) with point guard Tyrese Haliburton sidelined, but they had finished third (29.2 APG) and first (30.8 APG) in the two seasons prior. With Haliburton back and running Coach Rick Carlisle's motion offense, the Pacers should again return to the top of the league in the category. And team assists lead to team points, which is good for the fantasy prospects of all Pacers rotation players.-- Andre Snellings

Odds by DraftKings Sportsbook at time of publication.

_Originally reported by [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/49880687/indiana-pacers-2026-27-season-preview-stats-roster-tyrese-haliburton)._