Hanifan’s offseason outlook: Evaluating the Indiana Pacers’ 2026 offseason

Heat Pacers — (Mandatory Credit: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

The calendar has turned to September. You know what that means, right?! Our offseason outlook series is back for the third-straight year!

Hot Hot Hoops senior writer Matt Hanifan will provide his take on the offseasons of all 30 teams for the next 30 days! We will be going in alphabetical order, beginning with the Eastern Conference. Today, we will look at the Indiana Pacers’ summer!

Previous offseason outlooks:

Evaluating the Indiana Pacers’ 2026 offseason:

Additions: Larry Nance Jr., Kelly Oubre Jr.

Subtractions: Kam Jones, Micah Potter, Taelon Peter

Re-signed: Kobe Brown

Draft: Braden Smith (No. 38 overall)

Hanifan’s outlook: Frankly, the Pacers’ biggest offseason addition was getting Tyrese Haliburton back.

After the star point guard tore his achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Haliburton missed all of 2025-26. And so did the Pacers — figuratively, not literally. The Pacers’ season was sunk from the start after myriad injuries, ultimately finishing with 19 wins.

The knife was twisted a little more on the night of the draft lottery. The Pacers traded away their 2026 first-round pick as part of a three-player swap at the deadline for Clippers center Ivica Zubac. The pick, however, was protected 1-4 and 10-30 — meaning they would only lose it if it fell between 5-9. Evidently, the Pacers fell three positions in the lottery results from No. 2 to 5, losing their first-round pick to the Clippers (turning into a 2031 first).

Even though they missed on a generational guard class, the Pacers still have a good team heading into next year. Haliburton-Pascal Siakam-Zubac is a very formidable trio, and adding Kelly Oubre Jr. helps fill the void vacated by Bennedict Mathurin (sent to LAC in the Zubac trade). Indiana’s going to be a good team and should have more buzz than they’re receiving heading into the new season.