Magic Johnson Says Pacers Will Be Great Again With Tyrese Haliburton Back

Earvin "Magic" Johnson ran through both conferences in a post on X, and Indiana came first in the section on the East.

"Halliburton is coming back from the Pacers and they'll be a great team once again," Johnson wrote. "Giannis is now in Miami, the Pistons will still be a strong team again along with the Cavaliers. And if the trade goes through and Kawhi ends up in Toronto, the East is loaded!"

Johnson listed San Antonio and Oklahoma City as the favorites in the West, with Denver, Minnesota, Los Angeles, and Houston behind them.

The Indiana Pacers went 19-63 last season, the worst record in franchise history.

Tyrese Haliburton missed all of it. He ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first quarter of Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals on June 22, 2025, on a non-contact play with the score tied at 16. He had scored 9 points, all on 3-pointers, through the game's first seven minutes. Oklahoma City won 103-91.

On July 7, 2025, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard ruled Haliburton out for the 2025-26 season. Indiana was granted a $14.1 million disabled player exception on July 24, 2025. Shingles slowed the rehabilitation over the winter.

Through 73 games in 2024-25, Haliburton averaged 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 9.2 assists while shooting 47.3% from the field, 38.8% from 3-point range, and 85.1% from the free-throw line. He was named to the All-NBA Third Team. Across 23 games in the 2025 playoffs, he averaged 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 8.6 assists.

Haliburton appeared on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this month.

"I feel great. I feel great," Haliburton said. "Shingles is basically behind me now, for the most part."

Indiana is optimistic Haliburton will be available for Day 1 of the season opener. The team also posted video on Saturday of Haliburton throwing down an Eastbay dunk at its practice facility.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle spoke to reporters after Indiana's Summer League win over Cleveland.

"Ty's doing well. He's been playing 5-on-5 for a long time," Carlisle said. "It's going to be a bit of a journey for him."

Haliburton signed a five-year, $244 million extension in July 2023. He will make $48,924,624 in 2026-27, $52,298,736 in 2027-28, and $55,672,848 in 2028-29, the final year of the deal.

At the February deadline, Indiana traded Bennedict Mathurin and two first-round picks to the Los Angeles Clippers for Ivica Zubac. One of those picks was Indiana's 2026 first-rounder, protected on picks 1-4 and 10-30. The Pacers landed fifth in the lottery, and the pick went to the Clippers. Zubac played five games for Indiana before a season-ending injury.

Zubac averaged 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds in 2024-25 and made the All-Defensive Second Team. He averaged 14.4 points and 11.0 rebounds with the Clippers last season. Zubac carries a $20.34 million salary and becomes extension-eligible Sept. 3.

Pascal Siakam averaged 24.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists last season and made his fourth All-Star team. Siakam carries a $48.92 million salary and became eligible July 6 for an extension worth up to $207 million.

Indiana added Kelly Oubre Jr. on a two-year deal worth nearly $17 million and signed Larry Nance Jr. away from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, and T.J. McConnell all return. Zach Kram of ESPN graded the offseason a B-minus.

Miami acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis from Milwaukee on June 23. Toronto agreed on June 30 to acquire Kawhi Leonard from the Clippers, and the Raptors announced July 9 that they would wait on the outcome of the NBA's investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented the salary cap before completing the deal. LeBron James signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Cleveland went 52-30 and reached the conference finals, where New York swept the Cavaliers. Detroit finished first in the East.

Training camps around the league open in late September.