Pacers Placed in Same NBA Tier as LeBron James' 76ers

ESPN's Zach Kram placed the Indiana Pacers in the same NBA tier as the Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors. 

Kram has Indiana, Philadelphia, Miami and Toronto as "high-upside Finals contenders."

The Pacers have a talented core of Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, Ivica Zubac, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and Obi Toppin.   

Indiana will return to the playoffs next season since Haliburton is back. The Pacers struggled immensely last season without their starting point guard, winning only 19 games.

Haliburton had an outstanding 2024-25 campaign for the Pacers. He averaged 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 9.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.7 blocks per game and made the All-NBA Third Team.

The Pacers made the NBA Finals in 2025. They were one game away from winning it all. They might have defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 had Halliburton not torn his Achilles.

Remember, Indiana was winning when Halliburton got hurt in OKC.

The Pacers and Haliburton will presumably be highly motivated to prove their critics wrong next season, as there are some pundits who believe Indiana won't be a contender and Haliburton won't be the All-Star player he was before getting injured.

Indiana opens the 2026-27 regular season on October 21 against the New Orleans Pelicans. 

Haliburton has career averages of 17.5 points and 8.8 assists per game in the regular season and 17.9 points and 8.4 assists per game in the playoffs. The basketball world can't wait to see Hali play again. We are almost there.

Indiana made a blockbuster trade last season, getting Zubac from the LA Clippers. The Zubac trade came at a high cost, as the Pacers lost their first-round pick in the 2026 draft because of the deal. 

The Pacers needed to land in the top four to keep their pick after trading it to the Clippers with protections for Zubac. The trade sent two of Indiana's first-round picks to the Clippers: one in 2029 and either this year's first if it fell outside the top four or a 2031 unprotected first-rounder if it did not.

Because the Washington Wizards moved up in the lottery, Indiana landed fifth, so the pick went to the Clippers instead.

The Pacers could have drafted AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer or Caleb Wilson.

Instead, they have to pray that Zubac plays like an All-Star next season alongside Siakam and Haliburton.