Preseason basketball is rapidly approaching. We are less than a month away from finally getting to watch the NBA again, even if it is just the league equivalent of exhibition games.
There will be some who try to insist that this is nothing to celebrate, that basketball's return only truly sets in when the games actually matter, when the records begin to track the good, the bad, and the tanking.
However, that is not a true fan's perspective. That is the view of a 2K player, someone who simply wants to simulate until the playoffs so they can get their takes off on social media. No, true fans are excited about basketball, in whatever form it arrives in.
Indiana Pacers fans, in particular, are surely excited to see their team hint at the answers to the questions they've been asking for over a year in some cases. This will be one of the most defining years in recent Pacers history and will likely be a deciding season for the Tyrese Haliburton era.
Haliburton is a massive what if himself. What will prove for him?
What can Tyrese return to?
Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles tendon during Game 7 of the 2024-25 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. We have not seen him since that fateful game.
Achilles injuries are no longer the career death knell they once were, but they are no less serious because of it. They are still the most extreme rehab process an NBA player can undergo and have completely destroyed promising careers.
There are two other players who tore their tendons in the same playoff run: Jayson Tatum and Damian Lillard. Tatum returned at a far lower level halfway through this past season and Lillard, like Haliburton, has yet to play a game.
In those three players lies the answer to the question of how good a player can be in their return season. Tatum, a fringe MVP-level player, came back as a star (?) without the game that once made him so great. Lillard, who was already a declining veteran, will surely be little more than a spark plug off the bench on a deep Portland Trail Blazers team.
Haliburton is neither an MVP nor a washed-up star. But can he regain the level he was playing at when we last saw him?
If he can't, the Pacers will likely be stuck selling off pieces to start a rebuild. If he can, Indiana will skyrocket back to contention.
That answer will start in the preseason.
Who will be a surprise player down the roster?
We know how good the Pacers starters are, but their bench leaves so much to be desired. Their sixth through eighth men in the rotation are all but decided, but for Indiana to be truly impressive as a total team, they need one of their deeper bench options to work out.
Is that draft bust Jarace Walker? Is it his draftmate, Ben Sheppard? Is it someone no one can even expect to this date?
Contenders always get surplus value from players all the way down their roster. The championship Denver Nuggets got it from rookie Christian Braun and journeyman Bruce Brown. Last year's New York Knicks got that from Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet, among others.
The Pacers have a decent number of problems, but none is bigger than their bench. It's so hard to feel good about this team when they have only eight playable options.
A fringe player becoming a quality reserve would change a lot for Indiana.
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