Pacers GM Has ‘Big Belief’ in Young Guard Breaking Out

The Indiana Pacers know better than anyone that their short-term title window slammed shut the moment two-time All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton collapsed to the hardwood in agony during the first quarter of a critical Game 7 NBA Finals clash with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Without Haliburton quarterbacking the offense, Indiana fell apart in the contest's second half, and Oklahoma went on to win the 2025 championship. Now, the Pacers will be without two starters from their Finals squad next year: Haliburton has already been ruled out for all of the 2025-26 season, while 3-and-D starting center Myles Turner departed in free agency.

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Still, Indiana has internal expectations that young pieces can step into the void and produce.

During a new conversation with Alex Golden and co-host Facci on their show "Setting The Pace: A Pacers Podcast," Indiana general manager Chad Buchanan touched on a wide variety of topics heading into something of a "gap year" for the club.

Buchanan went on to outline his hopes for the Pacers' brightest Summer League star, second-year shooting guard Johnny Furphy.

Furphy has had a busy run of late, having just a few weeks between the Pacers' NBA Finals run and Indiana's Summer League activity in Las Vegas.

The 6-foot-8 20-year-old didn't play much as a rookie in 2024-25, averaging 2.1 points on .380/.300/.818 shooting splits and 1.4 rebounds in 50 contests. He appeared even more sparingly in the postseason as head coach Rick Carlisle tightened up his rotation, averaging 3.2 minutes in 11 games.

🚨NEW EPISODE🚨

Pacers GM, Chad Buchanan, joins us to discuss:

-Turner’s departure for MIL
-Who will get the 3rd 2-way spot
-SG & C being a training camp battle
-Targeting more FAs?
-Do they see Kam as a 1 or 2?
-Getting a DPE for Hali’s injury
-MORE

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— Alex Golden (@AlexGoldenNBA) July 21, 2025

Across three Summer League contests this season, Furphy averaged 11.3 points on .520/.250/.714 shooting splits, 4.0 boards, 1.0 steals and 0.7 blocks a night.

"If you go back and look at last year's Summer League, [from] where he was at [then] to where he's at now, there's definite growth in every part of his game — his body, his confidence, his aggressiveness. I thought he played with a lot of force in the few games he played in Las Vegas, trying to get to the rim. He's pretty fearless going in there, regardless of how many bodies are at the basket."

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Buchanan went on to praise Furphy's physical tools, and revealed what element of his game the young Aussie would need to develop in order to earn regular rotation minutes for the 2025-26 season.

"We like that physicality he brings. I think as his body catches up to his play style, I think he can be very impactful playing for us off the ball with his cutting, with his transition game," Buchanan said. "He's very good at catching the ball on the move and going to the rim, which creates a lot of attention for the weak side defense. His shooting's going to be kind of the big swing skill factor for him. If he can develop into a high-30s catch-and-shoot threat for us [he'd become a consistent rotation piece], he can do a lot of the same things and more than what Ben Sheppard does, 'cause he's a little bigger, a little more athletic."

Furphy is two inches tall than Sheppard, and obviously has an edge in athleticism. Sheppard, in his second season last year, had a bigger role than Furphy did on Indiana, averaging 5.3 points on .418/.342/.889 shooting splits, 2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 19.5 minutes per.

"And I think on the defensive end of the ball, he shows very good feet," Buchanan added. "I think he's a guy who other teams naturally try to attack, and I think they find out he's a little harder to go at than they anticipated and [he] does a good job of containing the ball, keeping his man in front of him."

"...[I] really like the effort and intensity and the focus that he plays with. Those are the traits that tend to succeed under Coach Carlisle and our team, and I think you'll see him get more opportunity this year as the season progresses, he gains more confidence," Buchanan said. "There's real potential for him to be in our rotation, whether it's this year or very soon down the road. We have a big belief in Johnny Furphy."

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