This NBA season is rapidly becoming a humiliation ritual for both Indiana Pacers fans and the team itself. In what was supposed to be a return to the summit, the Pacers are now struggling to have even half of their players available and off the injury report.
On Monday night, Indiana was forced to play only six players against the Atlanta Hawks. A roster that sported Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton, Ivica Zubac, and others has now been reduced to playing all three of their two-way contracts for 38 minutes or more in just game #8 of the season.
Quite simply, this just sucks.
And no, despite making it a close game, the Pacers did not win. The final score was 108-104, as Jay Huff, of all people, led the team in scoring with 22 points. Typically, having multiple players hit double-digit points, especially deep bench options, means that the team is well-balanced and is producing good shots for everyone. In this case, unfortunately, it just meant that there was no one else to soak up the shots.
Siakam will be returning from his rest designation, and the hope is that the rest of the team can slowly become healthier. Even Kelly Oubre Jr. was expected to play before a last-second knee injury pulled him just minutes before the tip-off.
It's nice to see extended looks for Braden Smith, Jalen Slawson, and Kobe Brown, but this whole situation just feels like Indiana is rapidly descending to where they were last year: flailing, falling, and hurtling for another gap year.
When is it no longer a gap?
The most worrying question that no one really wants to ask is what happens if the Pacers cannot regain their status as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. What happens if the Pacers' gap year becomes two gap years? Or even more than that? Would that not just be an end to this era?
It feels weird to say that everything rides on the first season back for the team's star player who just overcame a potentially career-ending injury, but the Pacers really don't have time to wait.
This year and next are the only two seasons in which the large majority of the rotation will still be under contract. TJ McConnell has a non-guaranteed deal at that point, while Haliburton and Aaron Nesmith will be under contract, but Indiana's books require that this year is a blueprint for why this roster deserves extensions.
If this season becomes another failure, it means it will be harder to shell out big deals for Zubac, Siakam, and Andrew Nembhard, who will all want extensions next summer.
The 2025-26 season was a gap year, but if this season goes down the drain, it's not unlikely that next season will be full of putrid vibes and unlikely to break the cycle of suck. We can only hope Indiana gets back on track when healthy.
Add us as a preferred source on Google