With Tyrese Haliburton expected back for the 2026-27 season, the Indiana Pacers need to decide the best way to ease him back into play. Should they put him on a minutes restriction and/or not play him in back-to-backs? Or should they just go all-in, especially since he will have had a year and a half of recovery time by the time the next season rolls around?
This is a crucial question Indiana needs to answer. Haliburton is the engine that keeps the team going, and it was clear they missed him this past season. But at the same time, it's not wise to put too much on his plate right away, especially since they have the talent around him (Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell, and maybe eventually Darryn Peterson) to help him ease into things.
The Pacers have a lot of time between now and the start of next season to figure it all out, but this will be an important narrative to follow for the time being as they look to re-enter title contention with Haliburton back.
Indiana need to figure out Tyrese Haliburton's minutes upon his return
In a recent episode of the "Locked On Pacers" podcast, Tony East mentioned that most players before last season who were returning from an Achilles injury either didn't play back-to-backs, or they were on a clear minutes restriction (Kobe Bryant, Wesley Matthews, Kevin Durant. But that wasn't the case for Isaiah Jackson (the Pacers' most recent example), who played in each of the team's first 29 games this past season.
Additionally, East noted that Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who returned from his Achilles injury on Mar. 3 and is probably the most comparable to Haliburton and his situation, didn't have a real minutes restriction, but he didn't play in back-to-backs either.
(For further reference, New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray only played 14 games this season due to an Achilles injury. He also didn't play back-to-backs, though his minutes per game dropped from 32.6 to 27.8 upon his return.)
At this point, it's fair to assume that Indiana will likely just ease the two-time All-NBA guard into action and opt not to play him on back-to-backs to begin next season. There is no reason to rush into things, especially since he is expected to be back at the start of the campaign, not in the middle or near the end of it.
Regardless of what ends up happening, the Pacers and the fanbase should be thrilled to have Haliburton back on the court sooner rather than later. And as they look to re-establish themselves as title contenders and finish what they started last year, his presence will be incredibly important moving forward.
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