Indiana Pacers Eye Championship Moves After Disappointing Season

Indiana professional basketball figures to make significant off-court waves on Sunday as Fever star Caitlin Clark serves as grand marshal of the Indianapolis 500.

It’ll be the Pacers’ turn in the weeks to follow, as general manager Chad Buchanan sees it.

Buchanan recently told Indianapolis radio station 93.5 and 107.5 The Fan that the organization could play against type and make a spending splash when free agency arrives this summer, even flirting with the luxury tax.

“We don’t want to do something that limits us moving forward,” Buchanan said, “but we also want to make the moves that put us into contention to compete for a championship.”

It’s hard to believe that Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of Tyrese Haliburton’s high-bounding clutch jumper at the fourth-quarter buzzer that propelled the visiting Pacers to an OT win against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Naturally, Indy faithful knows it was just over a month later – June 22, 2025 – that the most riveting Pacers postseason in a quarter-century ended with a Game 7 loss at Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals. The image of Haliburton going down to a torn right Achilles tendon in the opening minutes still stings.

After Indiana slumped to a 19-63 finish this season, the front office thought a salve might arrive with a top-four pick in the NBA Draft Lottery. But then the Pacers, odds notwithstanding, rolled the ping-pong ball equivalent of craps, finishing outside the coveted slot. Their would-be fifth pick went to the Los Angeles Clippers to complete a conditional February deal that landed center Ivica Zubac.

Cue the “shrewd spending” chatter, which the fan base has heard before until seeing the offseason unfold differently.

“[Pacers owner Herb] Simon and all our front office, we want to be aggressive and try to put this team in the best position to win a championship,” Buchanan said. “Spending smartly and spending wisely will be a part of that, but we realize where we’re at with our timeline.”

Ultimately, injury recovery – something far less immediate and potentially gratifying as throwing money at a prized free agent – holds a heavy influence on the Pacers’ prospectus.

Haliburton is expected to be ready for the 2026-27 season, as is Zubac, who played in just six games with Indiana before a rib injury ended his season. Various other “inconvenient injuries” – center Jay Huff’s send-up – surfaced elsewhere in the lineup.

All-Star forward Pascal Siakam, who led the team with 62 starts, five more than Andrew Nembhard, can attest.

No matter, everything adds up to a strong, experienced core returning – one that pushed Oklahoma City to the brink only 11 months ago.

“We were right on the doorstep last year,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle told the Athletic in April. “And then this year happened.”

On deck: An offseason in which Indiana must retool without a draft pick. The Pacers traded their 2026 second-rounder long ago.

If Clark has time, she might practice a line on the Pacers’ front office.

Start your engines, indeed.

Then hope a talented roster can stay upright.