Pacers GM Chad Buchanan says Tyrese Haliburton's final adjustment will be getting reacclimated to the speed, physicality and flow of an NBA game.
The last piece of Tyrese Haliburton's return is the speed of an NBA game, Indiana Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan told reporters Thursday at a Pacers Foundation golf event. He said practice cannot fully replicate it.
Haliburton has not played in a game since June 22, 2025, when he tore his right Achilles tendon early in Game 7 of the NBA Finals in Oklahoma City. Opening night on Oct. 21 in New Orleans comes 486 days later.
Haliburton's Confidence Has Continued to Build
The coaches worked with him throughout the rehab.
"I wouldn't say there's a day or a moment that happened, but the progress that he's made all summer, we've really trusted in the work that he's put in," Buchanan said. "The coaches have been working with him all year long. The rehab has gone extremely well, and you can start seeing little by little like his confidence picking up and building, and I think this week we've seen probably the best version of that. And I think there's even more progress to be made as the training camp starts. So we're excited to continue to put that faith in Ty and trust in the process with him there."
Several Pacers held a players-only minicamp in Nashville, Tennessee, last week. Earlier this summer, Haliburton ran scrimmages with teammates in Los Angeles.
In August, he said that if the season started then, he would be ready. He also dealt with a bout of shingles this year. Back in June, Buchanan had asked for patience, saying Haliburton would not be his old self right away and would need grace from everyone around him.
NBA Game Speed Is Final Step in Haliburton's Return
Buchanan said Haliburton is tired of practicing against the same teammates he has rehabbed against for 16 months.
"I don't really know if there's a precedent before of a guy having that much time between one season to the next returning from the injury," Buchanan explained. "But the more time you get, the better. I know he's sick and tired of playing against the guys in practice he's been rehabbing against for the last 16 months, but I think the more time you have for an injury like that to heal is better."
"But his adjustment will be playing an NBA game, the speed of it, the quickness, the physicality, because it's hard to replicate that in a practice setting," Buchanan continued. "And I think that'll be his adjustment, is getting back to the pace of how an NBA game flows."
The first live look comes in the preseason. Indiana plays the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 7 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, then hosts the Atlanta Hawks on Oct. 10 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Pacers Have Thrived With Haliburton on the Floor
Over the 2023-24 and 2024-25 regular seasons, Indiana went 86-56 with Haliburton and 11-11 without him. It then went 12-4 through the first three rounds of the 2025 playoffs. Haliburton made the All-NBA Third Team that season, and he turned 26 in February. This is his seventh season in the league. He is from Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
He will play his first regular-season games next to Ivica Zubac, who arrived from the LA Clippers in February. The two have never shared the floor in a game. Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. are also new.
The Pacers averaged 117.4 points in 2024-25, seventh in the league, and ranked seventh in pace. They committed 13.2 turnovers per game, the third-fewest in the NBA.
Haliburton spent last season on the bench beside the coaching staff during games.
Pacers Face Busy Start to Regular Season
Once the games count, the schedule moves quickly. The Pacers play five times in the first eight days, three of them on the road, including a back-to-back at the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 25 and the Milwaukee Bucks on Oct. 26.
The first practice of training camp is Tuesday, the day after media day.
