The Indiana Pacers aren’t the first team to looking down a dark path the season after reaching the NBA Finals. In 2011, the Dallas Mavericks defeated the mighty Miami Heat, only to have their title-winning roster gutted by former majority owner Mark Cuban. 14 years later, the Mavs traded franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic after he and co-star Kyrie Irving led Dallas to the 2024 NBA Finals.
Ironically, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was the Mavericks head coach in 2011. Fortunately, his most recent Finals-bound roster wasn’t scraped clean. Yet, Indiana still has an arduous path ahead, one on which a few important questions must be answered.
3 Burning Questions For Pacers Heading Into 2025-26 Season
Who Replaces Myles Turner?
By the time the Pacers’ nearly miraculous NBA Finals run had ended, there was no doubt that the higher-ups were already thinking of ways to replace the injured Tyrese Haliburton, be it in the short-term or long-term. However, they didn’t appear prepared for Myles Turner to depart in free agency. Of course, they did know that he would hit the open market. Nonetheless, when Carlisle appeared on 107.5 the Fan on June 24, he stated that re-signing Turner was their “No. 1 priority.”
As it turns out, Turner didn’t feel like he was Indiana’s priority. In fact, he signed with the Milwaukee Bucks on the first day of July. Had the Pacers known that was the likely outcome, they may have utilized their 2025 first-round selection (23rd overall) differently, perhaps drafting a big man rather than trading the pick to the New Orleans Pelicans. Instead, the only new big in their center rotation is Jay Huff, a 27-year-old floor-spacer with 95 career games under his belt.
Last season, Huff averaged 6.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 11.7 minutes per game, shooting 40.5% from 3. In the 37 games that he played 10+ minutes, he averaged 10.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, shooting 44.0% from 3. In terms of being able to stretch the floor and protect the rim, he bears more similarity to Turner than either Isaiah Jackson, James Wiseman or Tony Bradley.
With Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard projected to be Indiana’s starting guards, having Huff in the lineup could be essential for floor-spacing. However, the other bigs have more familiarity with Carlisle’s system, particularly Jackson. Furthermore, the Pacers could still opt to trade for a starting-level big man, such as Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen.
Can Bennedict Mathurin Score At An All-Star Level?
Carlisle has already revealed that Mathurin will be starting for Indiana in 2025-26. Now, this isn’t necessarily a new role for Mathurin, who has started in 85 career games. On top of that, similar to those previous instances, this is more experimental than set in stone. Yet, with Haliburton set to miss the entire season and Turner playing for their division rival, the Pacers undoubtedly have more of a reason to cater to the 2022 No. 6 pick’s scoring-mindedness.
That doesn’t mean Mathurin will be Indiana’s top scoring option in 2025-26. Instead, expect three-time All-Star selection Pascal Siakam to be their go-to player. Since joining the Pacers, Siakam has averaged 20.6 points per game on 53.0% shooting from the field and 38.8% shooting from deep. However, Siakam’s career-high is 24.2 points per game, a mark he set in 2022-23. Meanwhile, Haliburton and Turner averaged 34.2 points per game combined last season.
Siakam can’t possibly fill the void left by Haliburton or Turner alone, let alone both. He’ll need to rely on teammates like Mathurin, who averaged (a career-high) 16.7 points per game as a rookie. Interestingly, when Mathurin plays 30+ minutes, he averages 20.7 points per game. The question is if Mathurin can score even more than that though.
Ultimately, if both Siakam and Mathurin play at an All-Star level and average around 25 points per game, they’ll make it a lot easier to manage without Haliburton. But is that too far-fetched?
How Will Andrew Nembhard Fare?
Frankly, though continuous improvement should always be the goal, every player in the Pacers rotation needs to try to play even better than they did in 2024-25. In other words, Siakam and Mathurin aren’t the only ones that will have to step up their game. With that being said, Nembhard could get the first opportunity to step into Haliburton’s place, especially with TJ McConnell sidelined for about a month due to a hamstring injury.
There’s a stark difference between Nembhard and Haliburton and it’s not just their star power. While Nembhard is at his best attacking the rim and defending the perimeter, Haliburton’s rim pressure and on-ball defense have been criticized. Conversely, Haliburton is an elite facilitator and long-distance shooter but Nembhard is neither a nominal point guard nor a natural 3-point shooter.
Even so, Nembhard has shown that he’s best under pressure. In the playoffs, he’s averaged 13.5 points and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 47.3% from 3. He won’t be on that bright of a stage for a few months at least. However, if he can get in that zone he enters in the postseason during the regular season, he’ll be a key reason why Indiana was able to exceed expectations.
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