As Indiana Pacers fans sit down to their Thanksgiving dinner this week, they have plenty of reasons to offer thanks.
Yes, really.
True, the past five months have been messier than spilled cranberry sauce. The loss in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The horrific Tyrese Haliburton injury. Myles Turner’s departure in free agency. The rash of injuries that ruined the start of this season.
However, even in the midst of a dried-out turkey of a 2025-26 campaign, Pacers fans can be thankful for plenty of things as they look back at past accomplishments and look ahead to the future.
Thankful these things happened
• 23 postseason wins in two years. That’s the most postseason victories in the NBA since the start of the 2023-24 season.
• 10 trips to the conference finals since 1994. That’s tied with the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat for the most Eastern Conference Finals appearances in the same span. The Pacers are the only team in the NBA with multiple conference finals appearances in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s.
• The No. 10 pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. The Pacers have somehow turned that single pick into four NBA All-Stars. The pick itself was Paul George. Indiana eventually swapped George for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis was later flipped to Sacramento for Haliburton, the centerpiece of Indiana’s success the last two years.
Grateful for a bright future
• That 2026 draft pick. More than anything on this list, Indiana fans should be especially thankful the Pacers had the foresight to re-acquire the team’s own 2026 first-round draft pick during the middle of the NBA Finals. That pick now projects as a top-five pick in what experts expect to be a loaded draft class. Indiana could emerge from what appears to be a “gap year” with a more loaded roster than ever.
• The miracle of modern medicine. It’s a tribute to advances in sports medicine – most notably Kevin Durant’s successful return from the same injury - that it’s almost taken for granted that Haliburton will return from his Achilles tendon injury and regain something close to his previous form. The same injury as recently as 10 years ago would have resulted in a less optimistic outlook.
• A manageable salary cap situation. The Pacers are safely below the salary cap’s first apron this season and next, assuring some flexibility for needed roster moves. (Though some Indiana fans would be even more thankful if the team ventured into luxury tax territory to bolster the roster).
• Gainbridge is aging gracefully. Do you realize that Gainbridge Fieldhouse is now two years older than Market Square Arena (the Pacers’ home from 1974 to 1999) was when it was demolished? The franchise appears set to continue in one of the NBA’s most iconic arenas for years to come after a three-phase “Fieldhouse of the Future” refurbishment in recent years.
• It can’t get any worse … right? Last but not least, Pacers fans have to figure that not much more could possibly go wrong than what has transpired in the last five months – so better days surely are in store starting with this holiday season.