Pacers Receive Brutal Record Prediction for 2025-26 Season

One NBA pundit doesn't like the Pacers' chances this season.

Jun 19, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9) gets the ball away from Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) in the third quarter during game six of the 2025 NBA Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers surprised everyone around the NBA with their run to the Finals in 2025. No one expected them to make that jump, despite the fact that they made the Eastern Conference Finals the year before.

Heading into this year, they have a tall task in order to repeat that kind of success. Tyrese Haliburton is not going to be available to play at all this season, and he's their best player.

There aren't many pundits out there who believe that the Pacers will duplicate their success. One pundit gives them a much worse record than last year.

More news: 3 Pacers Guards to Miss Time in Training Camp with New Injuries

NBA Pundit Gives The Pacers a Poor Prediction This Season

Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report gave a record prediction for every team in the NBA. He predicts the Pacers to have a record of 34-48 this season.

Hughes believes the losses of Haliburton and Myles Turner will be too much to overcome.

"Rick Carlisle is among the best coaches in the league, and the Indiana Pacers are still going to play harder than their opponents on most nights. But there's just no way to gloss over the absences of Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner."

Even though Turner played so poorly in the NBA Finals, Hughes still believes he provided an invaluable resource to the Pacers because of his stretch-five capabilities.

"Those two were the guard and center bookends to Indy's whole operation, with the former chiefly responsible for the contagious ball movement and the latter providing the five-out spacing that made all that passing and cutting work so well. Without them, the Pacers are short on stars and may have to figure out a new identity."

More news: Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin Gets Candid About Inconsistent Playoff Role Last Year

The Pacers Don't Want This Year To Be a Gap Year

Indiana is determined not to make it a gap year, although Hughes sees the team trending in that direction.

"This feels like a gap year, and it's telling that the Pacers control their 2026 first-rounder after a prescient mid-Finals trade. Though Indiana has never been in the business of tanking, it's not hard to imagine a stretch run during which Pascal Siakam, Aaron Nesmith and the rest of the veteran starters get liberal rest."

Turner didn't exactly light the world on fire in his first preseason game with the Bucks. They might not miss him as much as Hughes believes they will.

The Pacers are determined to prove everyone wrong this year.

Latest Pacers News

feed

For more news and notes on the Indiana Pacers, visit Indiana Pacers on SI.