If the Indiana Pacers and their fans could, they would probably just fast-forward through the 2025-26 NBA season and get it over with. Unfortunately for them, the season still isn't even a month old, and there is a lot of basketball left on the schedule.
Despite being in the NBA Finals not even a year ago, the Pacers find themselves near the bottom of the standings.
With a 1-11 record, they are tied with the Washington Wizards for the worst record in the NBA. And with a 105.2 offensive rating (second-worst in the NBA) and 118.9 defensive rating (eighth-worst), according to Basketball Reference, they are among the worst teams in the league on both sides of the ball.
It was never much of a surprise that the Pacers would be bad this season. Tyrese Haliburton is out for the season due to an Achilles injury, and the team is still looking to work out its center situation after Myles Turner joined the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency.
But nobody knew it would be this bad.
The Pacers' nightmare just keeps getting worse
It's not even just that they're bad, but they're also sad to watch.
Indiana looks like a shell of its former self on both sides of the ball, especially offensively. It is still playing Rick Carlisle-style basketball, but without Haliburton (or Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell, Bennedict Mathurin, and Obi Toppin for most of the season), it's just not the same. The Pacers can move the ball and push the tempo, but it's not leading to anywhere near the same success it has in recent years.
Plus, the team has dealt with a ton of injuries. A ton.
Haliburton is out for the season. Mathurin is out for who knows how long with a toe injury. And Toppin is out until at least February. Plus, Nembhard and McConnell already missed time, and Aaron Nesmith just suffered a knee injury against the Phoenix Suns. Not to mention that Johnny Furphy, Quenton Jackson, Kam Jones, and Taelon Peter have all dealt with their own injuries as well.
The Pacers technically have time to turn it around, but are they going to be able to? Do they even want to?
Tanking is not always a good idea, if it ever really is. Essentially wasting a year of everybody's time (especially players' careers) in hopes of maybe possibly landing a high draft pick that could potentially work out in the NBA is incredibly risky.
But Indiana isn't really tanking. The team is genuinely just that bad and broken down right now, and it's going to take a long time before it gets better.
This season has been brutal for Pacers fans, but the future is still bright. The team should be able to re-insert itself into the title picture as soon as next season, and there are reasons to believe they can bounce back because of how resilient they have proven to be in the past. However, until then, it's going to continue to be dark times in Indiana.