Could Edmond Sumner make his way back to the Indiana Pacers?

The Indiana Pacers traded Edmond Sumner after he tore his Achilles this past offseason to the Brooklyn Nets, who then waived him.

Sumner made his way into the Indiana Pacers rotation before getting hurt. Would Indiana take a second look at adding Edmond back to the roster?

It has been around eight months since Sumner’s injury took place. In the 2020-21 season, Edmond had just started to cement himself as a rotation player on this Pacers roster.

He spent time with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants earlier in his career and earned himself a two-year deal with the Pacers with a team option at the end of it. In July of 2021, the Pacers would exercise that option, and unfortunately, almost a month later he would tear the Achilles.

The 2020-21 season was the most involved Sumner had been in an NBA roster since he was drafted back in 2017. He would average 7.5 points per game and convert 52.5% of his field-goal attempts in 16.2 minutes a game. These numbers were all career highs as he was looking comfortable in the rotation.

Throughout the entire process of his rehab, Sumner has remained open with fans on social media, giving updates on his progress and how he is feeling. After his surgery, he gave his first update to many during his recovery.

"“Can’t truly express how grateful I am for the love I’ve received these past days. I needed more than you can imagine. All those encouraging words helped me get back to a space where I needed to be. Thank God for a successful surgery. Tough road ahead, but nothing is stopping me”."

Sumner seemed to be progressing quickly, as seen here he was doing light jogging just over 100 days after his surgery.

Although Sumner couldn’t get back to rehabbing right away, he decided to re-enroll at Xavier and work towards finishing his degree during his time away from basketball. He took to Twitter to share the news.

"“Finished my first class back in school. One step closer to my degree”!"

So after being traded from the team, why would it make sense to bring Sumner back to Indiana?

He never left.

Sumner has spent most of his time rehabbing in Indiana, whether at the Pacers practice facility or at his own gym, it has been Indiana. Just last month, Sumner was seen at the Pacers practice facility showing off his bounce while wearing his Pacers warmups.

The guard room is heavy in Indiana as it currently sits. You have Brogdon, Haliburton, Hield, McConnell, Washington, Duarte, and Lance Stephenson if you bring him back. If the Pacers wish to add Sumner to next year’s team, there would have to be a trade or some other change to allow the room.

We will have a better feel for where the team wants to take the roster after this year’s NBA draft and if there is the room that opens in that position for Indiana. I can see Indiana wanting to reunite with the 26-year-old, but I think there needs to be more room on the roster.

Maybe that will change this offseason with trades, but right now it would be challenging. If the Pacers are aggressive on draft night, I could see the guard room depleting, but we will have to wait and see.

Sumner’s injury history is something worth noting, suffering a torn ACL pre-draft and now a torn Achilles. 

If Sumner is still as speedy as he was prior to this injury, his transition game would be a great fit in this fast-paced offense under Rick Carlisle. His game is fun, and he has a great personality that would gel well in this locker room.

On May 6th, Sumner took to Twitter to express his excitement about his return to the court.

"“Man I’m so excited for this process ahead. I’ve done everything possible to have a great return to the court”."

Sumner is fun to watch on the court and was ascending into a rotational player in Indiana. We haven’t seen him play in some time, but the front office has been watching his rehab closely, and maybe an avenue to bring him back opens up this offseason.