Kendrick Perkins Has Absurd Prediction for Pacers’ 2026-27 Season

ESPN's Kendrick Perkins is back at it again.

The NBA analyst joined ESPN in 2019 and has risen to the top of their basketball coverage due to his willingness to have outlandish takes that go against the norm. Some call it bold, others call it foolish.

On the Road Trippin' Show, Perkins revealed his Eastern Conference Standings for the year and had the Indiana Pacers outside of the Top 10. That's right, Perkins believes out of all 15 teams in the Eastern Conference, that the team who just made the NBA Finals in 2025 will not even be in the postseason.

Meanwhile, he predicts that the Washington Wizards, a team that has not made the playoffs since 2021, will finish with the 6th seed. This is the same Wizards team that just finished with the worst record in the NBA last season.

It's no surprise that Perkins is once again disrespecting the Pacers, because it is what he does best.

May 31, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) reacts after game six of the eastern conference finals against the New York Knicks for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

During Indiana's 2025 playoff run, he had multiple things to say about this squad, and before every series he NEVER predicted Indiana to win.

After the New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics in six games, he went on the air and said that the Knicks would win the Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana. Guess what? He was wrong.

Once Indiana made it to the NBA Finals. Perkins joined the crew on ESPN BET Live and said this about the NBA Finals matchup between Indiana and Oklahoma City, "I picked OKC to win this in 6 because I didn’t want to disrespect Indiana, but I definitely believe this series is not going past five games. The Indiana Pacers will not win a game in OKC.” Well, to no one's surprise, Perkins was wrong...on both predictions.

After the Pacers split the first two games against the Thunder in the NBA Finals, Perkins was on ESPN's postgame show and declared that Haliburton couldn't have a big game against the Thunder in this series. Even with Indiana heading home for the next two games. As per usual, Perkins was flat out wrong.

hali okc — Jun 11, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) shoots the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) during the fourth quarter in game three of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Haliburton posted a near triple-double in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, scoring 22 points, dishing out 11 assists, corralling 9 rebounds, stealing the ball twice, and blocking one shot. That's a pretty impressive statline to put up, and proved once again how ignorant Perkins' takes were.

Then to follow it up, when Haliburton left Game 5 early and was diagnosed with a calf strain, the big man said that Haliburton should not play the rest of the NBA Finals because an Achilles tear usually follows a calf strain.

While Perkins was technically right in this (one) instance, he acted as if Haliburton and the Pacers medical staff were unaware of what a calf strain could lead to. But nothing was going to keep Haliburton from competing for a title if the doctors cleared him to play, and the star point guard has discussed this several times in different podcast interviews after tearing his Achilles in Game 7.

hali siakam — Jun 19, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33), guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) and forward Pascal Siakam (43) react after a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first quarter during game six of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Perkins is one of the few analysts who is so down on Indiana heading into next season that he has the Pacers missing the postseason entirely. I could understand the argument for leaving Indiana outside of the top six, but missing the playoffs altogether feels like a stretch.

A team coached by Rick Carlisle, with one of the NBA's premier floor generals in Tyrese Haliburton running the offense and an All-NBA talent and former champion in Pascal Siakam, deserves more benefit of the doubt. After what Indiana accomplished in both 2024 and 2025, predicting this group to miss the postseason feels more personal than factual.

Go ahead and file this one alongside the laundry list of takes. Perkins has gotten wrong during his seven years at ESPN. There's bold analysis, and then they're saying something outrageous simple because you know it will generate attention. Having Indiana miss the postseason altogether falls squarely into the latter. Perkins has made a career out of turning hot takes into headlines, and this is just the latest example.

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