The Indiana Pacers struggled with a limited version of Tyrese Haliburton to begin last season, and it is safe to assume things will only get worse without him entirely.
While nothing ever became official, many speculated that Haliburton struggled greatly at the start of last season due to a lingering back problem. Regardless of what the reason was, the Wisconsin native clearly wasn't his best self, and it was noticeable both on the court and in the standings.
In his first 25 games of the season, Haliburton averaged 17.5 points, 8.4 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals while shooting 42% from the field and 33.6% from beyond the arc. While these numbers weren't necessarily bad on their own, they were not up to Haliburton's standards. Additionally, Indiana was 10-15 in those games.
Haliburton and the Pacers turned it around, culminating in an NBA Finals appearance. However, unfortunately for the team, they will be without their star guard next season as he recovers from an Achilles injury.
Recently, Caitlin Cooper of Basketball, She Wrote, noted that Indiana struggled even with a limited version of Haliburton last season. Now that they are going to be without him entirely, the Pacers will likely be in some big trouble next year.
"I find it hard to think they will have the same degree of ceiling without Tyrese Haliburton, because they almost had a little bit of a microcosm of this at the beginning of last season. He was limited. They ended up being, I think, 10-15 right around the NBA Cup time, and a lot of that was directly connected to the fact that he wasn't quite playing to his own individual level, the offense wasn't where they wanted it to be...That's very present in my mind that they still had a limited version of Tyrese, and it was a little bit of a rocky start to the season, and now you're not even gonna have the limited version," Cooper said.
The Pacers have to navigate life without Tyrese Haliburton
Despite being one win away from their first-ever NBA Championship last season, the Pacers are now in a tough situation and are not likely to be legitimate contenders next year.
Not only will Indiana be without Haliburton for an entire season, but they also need to work things out regarding their center position after Myles Turner shockingly joined the Milwaukee Bucks as a free agent in the offseason.
There are reasons to believe the Pacers will be able to re-establish themselves as title contenders once their star guard returns, but until then, they will look to at least stay afloat as their lineup goes through some major changes.
In Haliburton's absence, the Pacers are expected to slide Andrew Nembhard to the point guard role full-time. Additionally, the team is expected to insert Bennedict Mathurin into the starting lineup as Nembard's backcourt partner. Furthermore, Indiana will rely more heavily on many of their role players to step up.
Many are counting the Pacers out for next season, but they have not given fans any reason to believe they are just going to tank. Another deep playoff run is unlikely, but they can still make some noise in a wide-open Eastern Conference. Just how much, exactly, remains to be seen.
Regardless of what happens next season, the Pacers have a lot going against them, and Haliburton's absence could prove too much for the team to overcome.