Pacers GM Chad Buchanan praised Rick Carlisle’s coaching staff after Johnny Carpenter’s departure and Indiana’s internal promotion of Isaac Yacob.
Chad Buchanan left most of the talk about Rick Carlisle's coaching staff for Monday's media day. The Indiana Pacers general manager did say Thursday that the team shuffled titles and duties after assistant coach Johnny Carpenter left for the Milwaukee Bucks in July.
Indiana filled the opening from within. Isaac Yacob was promoted to assistant coach, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files reported on Wednesday, citing league sources. Yacob joins Lloyd Pierce, Jenny Boucek, and Jim Boylen in the group of assistants under Carlisle. Pierce was head coach of the Atlanta Hawks from 2018 to 2021, and Boylen held the same job with the Chicago Bulls from 2018 to 2020. Boucek was head coach of the WNBA's Seattle Storm.
Pacers Adjust Staff After Johnny Carpenter's Departure
Buchanan said the Pacers had to make adjustments to cover Carpenter's departure.
"Rick's gonna probably talk to you guys about staff on media day," Buchanan said at the Pacers Foundation golf outing. "But with Johnny Carpenter leaving, we had to make some adjustments and [move] some titles and duties around, but very, very happy with our staff. Rick has done an awesome job of putting together his group. They're very — they're almost like a team. They know their role, they know how to complement each other, and we can talk more about that to you guys at the media day though."
Isaac Yacob Earns Promotion to Assistant Coach
Yacob came to Indiana in 2022 as video coordinator and was promoted to player development coach in 2023. Before that, he spent three seasons with the Sacramento Kings, first as assistant video coordinator and then as video coordinator. He started as a coaching associate with the Los Angeles Lakers from 2017 to 2019.
He is from Carson, California, and went to Cal State Northridge. He coached the Pacers' Summer League team in 2025.
Carpenter Leaves Indiana for Larger Role With Bucks
Carpenter spent one season with Indiana. He joined the staff in August 2025 from the Memphis Grizzlies after Mike Weinar stepped away from coaching. He also worked under Carlisle with the Dallas Mavericks in 2014-15. Like Carlisle and Boucek, he went to Virginia.
The Bucks hired Carpenter on July 8 as an assistant coach and head of player development under Taylor Jenkins, his former head coach in Memphis. He had been running practices for the Pacers' Summer League team at the time.
In a statement that day, Carlisle said the Bucks' offer was a clear step up in responsibility for Carpenter and had the organization's blessing. He said the Pacers would adjust and promote from within.
Bryce Taylor Takes Over Noblesville Boom
Bryce Taylor, named head coach of the Noblesville Boom in early June, took over the Summer League team in Las Vegas. Taylor now begins his first season with the Boom, Indiana's G League affiliate, which is entering its second year in Noblesville.
This is Carlisle's sixth year back in Indiana since 2021. Over that stretch, the Pacers reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2024 and the NBA Finals in 2025 before going 19-63 last season without Tyrese Haliburton.
Camp opens the day after media day. Indiana's regular season starts Oct. 21 against the Pelicans.
