He's not going to come back this season, but Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton seems to be doing well in his recovery after suffering an Achilles injury.
In a recent appearance on Prime Video's "NBA Nightcap," the Wisconsin native said that he's "in a good space" and is close to playing one-on-one (h/t Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star).
"I'm in a good space," Haliburton said. "Yesterday was six months for me, so we're getting there. Things have been going really well. I'm basically doing everything outside of contact right now. Hopefully the goal is by the end of the month that I can start playing one-on-one. It feels like it's been a long journey but we're getting there day by day."
It's already been made official that Haliburton will not play this season, regardless of how well he progresses. But this is completely the right call. It would not be a smart idea to rush him back, and giving him his opportunity to take his time in the recovery should give him a better chance to return to form as soon as possible.
Still, it's very good news for Pacers fans to see their star guard doing well in his recovery, even if they will have to wait another year to see him back on the court.
Pacers should be back in title contention when Tyrese Haliburton returns
This season has been a rough one for the Pacers. They began the season with a 6-18 record (only ahead of the Washington Wizards in the East), and they look like a shell of themselves on both sides of the ball.
According to Basketball-Reference.com, their 109.5 offensive rating is the fourth-worst in the NBA, and their 117 defensive rating ranks as the 18th-best. Though they have started to turn things around in recent games, it's clear that this Pacers team's ceiling isn't all that high, and there is a very real chance they miss the postseason entirely after making the NBA Finals last season.
Even so, Indiana has an incredibly bright future and should be able to re-establish itself as a title contender once Haliburton returns. He is the engine that keeps everything running in the Pacers' offense due to his elite playmaking and facilitating, as well as his presence as a scoring threat. Plus, in a bit of a shocking turn, they are also missing their star guard on the defensive side of the ball as well.
With the exception of Myles Turner, who is now with the Milwaukee Bucks, every key player from the Pacers' latest NBA Finals team is still on the roster and should be next year, too (as long as they make the right call on Bennedict Mathurin). And since the Eastern Conference still doesn't look all that strong, the Pacers should be able to make it back to the top sooner rather than later, especially once Haliburton comes back.