INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle made his weekly appearance on “The Fan Morning Show” on radio station 93.5/107.5 The Fan on Tuesday.
Tyrese Haliburton underwent surgery for his torn Achilles on Monday.
“Obviously very unlikely that he’ll play at all next year,” Carlisle said. “I don’t think I’m speaking out of school as a non-medical person.”
Carlisle called his star guard on Monday night after he got out of surgery.
He answered the phone on the first half ring, and he said, ‘Hey coach, how are you doing?’” Carlisle said. “He sounded totally upbeat. And I said, ‘I’m doing great, how are you doing?’ And he goes, ‘I’m going to be good. I’m going to be good.’”
“I really want the fanbase to understand this. The exchange on the telephone last night at 8:49 p.m. Eastern time was one of the most uplifting moments of my entire coaching career.”
With Haliburton likely out for the entire 2025-26 season, it opens up the opportunity for other Pacers players to play larger roles.
“This will allow Andrew Nembhard to step into a different role,” Carlisle said. “That’s pretty obvious, and one that he’s proven very capable of. T.J. McConnell was signed by ownership and Kevin (Pritchard) and Chad (Buchanan) last summer to be with us hopefully through the end of his career and so these two guys will have to lead us from that position. And I know that Kevin and Chad will find other ways to get other help.”
After losing in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the attention now turns to the offseason for the Pacers. Myles Turner, the Pacers longest tenured player, will become a free agent.
Carlisle talked about the Pacers’ goals of re-signing Turner.
“I don’t think it’s any secret that the franchise, at this particular moment, that is the No. 1 priority,” Carlisle said.
“Myles is a very important part of what we’ve done here. What we’ve been doing. He’s a very important part of the history of the franchise, certainly over the last decade.”
Carlisle added that he’s not privy to every little conversation, but Myles is an important part to what they’re doing.
Carlisle also mentioned that the fact that they traded their first round pick this year to get the rights back for their first round pick in 2026 was pretty amazing foresight given Haliburton’s injury.
The Pacers have one pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, No. 54 overall in the second round. The first round of the NBA Draft is on Wednesday, and the second round is on Thursday.
