How the Indiana Pacers will perform next season without Tyrese Haliburton or Myles Turner remains to be seen, but according to The Ringer's Bill Simmons, they may be better off tanking and not prioritizing wins.
"But if you compare [Boston] to Indiana, who lost Haliburton and Turner, I actually think Indiana is a more likely '(expletive) it,' let's suck this year' candidate, right?" Simmons said. "Jarace Walker will play. He'll fill minutes somewhere, because they didn't have him in the playoffs, but other than that, what else do they do?"
The Pacers were just one win away from an NBA championship back in June, but things quickly fell apart for them, and they now have a bleak outlook for next season.
They will be without Haliburton for the entire season as he recovers from an Achilles injury, and they also need to learn how to navigate through life without Turner, who signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency. Indiana is going to look completely different next season, and they have a lot of questions to answer.
The Pacers are about to find out if Bennedict Mathurin is a long-term asset or a trade piece, and they also need to work out their center situation, which does not look too inspiring at the moment. Plus, with Andrew Nembhard running the point for a season, they need to determine exactly how different their offense is going to look, and they will likely experience some growing pains.
Not everything is bad for Indiana next season. They have a unique opportunity to experiment with their roster a bit and see what works and what doesn't for the long haul. However, they are not likely going to be too successful next season, and there is a legitimate chance they will miss the postseason entirely.
Even so, tanking might not be the answer, even if Simmons and others may think it is.
Tanking will not solve everything for the Pacers
On paper, it could technically make sense for the Pacers to tank next season. Barring many miracles, they are not going to have a deep playoff run next year, and an NBA Finals win is borderline impossible for them. Because of this, it could make sense for them not to prioritize winning and aim for a good draft pick in 2026, especially considering how good a class it could be with players like AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Cameron Boozer, among others.
Regardless, there is one major problem with this: tanking does not guarantee they will get a high draft pick.
With the NBA's lottery system, the worst team in the league is not guaranteed to have the first overall pick. Additionally, even without Haliburton and Turner, the Pacers are still going to be too good to finish among the bottom teams in the NBA. It would not be worth much to tank and not end up with a high draft pick in the end.
Instead, the Pacers should prioritize winning as this type of experience can pay dividends for the long run, especially regarding their younger players, who will each have bigger roles next season. Furthermore, while it won't be easy, a playoff appearance in 2026 is not entirely out of the picture for Indiana, and if there is any team in the league that can shock the basketball world and make some noise, it's them.
Next season is going to be a strange one for the Pacers, but no matter what, they should be able to re-establish themselves as title contenders soon enough. It may not be next year, but even so, tanking won't solve all of their problems, and this should not be their main priority.