Taelon Peter to be Waived by Indiana Pacers

After one season with the Indiana Pacers, the No. 54 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft is being waived, according to insider Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype.

Taelon Peter played 38 games for the Pacers last season, and spent two Summer League stints with the organization before this decision was made. During his rookie season, Peter averaged 4.5 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.7 turnovers per game.

The Indiana Pacers are waiving two-way guard Taelon Peter, league sources told @hoopshype. Peter averaged 4.5 points in 38 games played for Indiana last season after being the 54th pick of the 2025 NBA Draft.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) July 20, 2026

For the 2026 Summer League Pacers team, he was a starter in all five games and played in the shooting guard and small forward positions. His overall play in Summer League was okay, but for already having one year of experience the hope was that he would showcase more.

This was an unique roster that was extremely small and didn't have a natural rim protector in the starting lineup next to him. Peter struggled to stand out, as he was used mostly as the 3rd or 4th option on the floor.

In 5 games here were his Summer League stats:

-52 points (10.4 points per game)
-18-36 shooting (50%)
-10-28 from 3 (35.7%)
-8 assists (1.6 per game)
-8 rebounds (1.6 per game)
-6 steals (1.2 per game)
-11 turnovers (2.2 per game)

The Two-Way Logjam

Mar 15, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) takes a shot against Indiana Pacers center Jay Huff (32), forward Kobe Brown (24) and forward Jalen Slawson (18) in the second quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Peter was signed to one of Indiana's three two-way contracts with Ethan Thompson -- and in a surprising offseason move, Kobe Brown -- who was brought back after becoming an unrestricted free agent. Dustin Dopirak, of the Indy Star, reported after the NBA Draft that the Pacers would be signing Braden Smith to a two-way contract.

In order for the Pacers to add Smith to a two-way contract, someone had to be waived. This makes sense on why Indiana moved on from Peter, but there are still questions to be answered.

The Pacers also extended a two-way qualifying offer to Jalen Slawson in late June, making him a restricted free agent. He was the most impressive player on the Pacers' Summer League squad, making his case stronger to be retained by the team on one of the three two-way contracts.

Speculation has been that the Pacers would keep Slawson on a two-way deal with Brown and Smith, meaning the team would have to move on from Thompson who did not play with the Summer League Pacers' squad because he was playing for the Puerto Rican national team. However, Thompson was one of the best players for Puerto Rico and is a talented guard-forward.

If the Pacers wanted to make this decision easier, they could use their open roster spot and sign Smith to a veteran's minimum contract for a player with zero years of experience for $1.35 million -- instead of a two-way deal. This would allow them to keep all four players on the roster, and Smith is the only one of the four that the team could sign to a standard contract and be under the first apron threshold.

There are still more questions to be answered with how the Pacers navigate these tough decisions, and unfortunately Peter did not do enough to stick with the organiziation for more than one season.

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