Pacers in prime draft lottery position following painful season
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Pascal Siakam and the Pacers are keeping their heads up after reaching a franchise low. Photo: Michael Hickey/Getty Images
The Pacers' plummet to the bottom of the NBA gives them a strong shot at pairing a top prospect with a healthy Tyrese Haliburton next season.
Why it matters: With many of the pieces that took them to the NBA Finals less than a year ago still in place, a lucky draft lottery roll could quickly put the Pacers back on top.
The latest: Haliburton said this week that he's on track to return from the Achilles injury that sidelined him this season, but a case of facial shingles — causing weight gain, partial eyebrow loss and vision problems — will make this offseason even more difficult.
Flashback: With Haliburton benched and a season full of other injuries that forced the Pacers to use 48 different starting lineups and 27 players, the team suffered a franchise-record 63 regular-season losses.
- The Pacers also set a team record for consecutive losses with 13 before the All-Star break, then broke that record after the break by dropping 16 in a row.
Yes, but: The Pacers now have a 14% chance of getting the No. 1 pick in the draft and a 52% chance of landing a top-four pick.
- If their draft pick lands between No. 5 and No. 9, it goes to the LA Clippers as part of the trade that brought center Ivica Zubac to Indiana in February.
Between the lines: Beyond the draft, the core is locked in with Haliburton, Zubac and All-Star Pascal Siakam expected to anchor a starting five that should be competitive when healthy.
What they're saying: Haliburton, who played 5-on-5 last week for the first time since his Achilles injury, told reporters Monday that he believes he will return at the same level as before, "if not better."
- "At this point in my life, what is pressure? It's not a real thing," he said. "No matter what I do in life, there's going to be people that have expectations for me to do certain things. But I put higher expectations on myself than anybody."
Siakam — the team's scoring leader, who missed the last five games of the season with an ankle injury — said a big part of getting through the season was trying to focus on the positive and finding ways to improve amid the losses.
- "We understand what it takes, and we know that it's not going to just take flipping a switch," he said. "As long as we all have that mindset and we go into the summer with that level of seriousness … I think we'll be OK."
What's next: The NBA Draft Lottery is May 10.
- Top prospects in this class include BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, Duke forward Cameron Boozer and North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson.
If you go: Fans can enter here through May 4 for a chance to win two tickets to the 2026 Pacers Draft Lottery.
Go deeper: 3 things we learned about Tyrese Haliburton from Netflix's "Starting 5"