Tyrese Haliburton is back and the Pacers are wild card contender

The 2025-26 NBA season was one for the books. However, it didn't feel complete without Tyrese Haliburton, who missed the entirety of the year recoving from a torn Achilles that he endured in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals.

Now, one of the biggest questions of 2026-27 will revolve around Haliburton and whether or not he's able to recapture the magic that guided the Indiana Pacers all the way to the final frontier.

As we saw last season, the Pacers absolutely need Haliburton -- not only to thrive, but just to maintain relevancy. Without him, the Pacers went 19-63. Fortunately, Haliburton is back on the floor and the early returns look promising.

Haliburton looks good and the Pacers are back to being a threat

For the first time in 472 days, Haliburton returned to the court for an actual NBA game. The Pacers played the Minnesota Timberwolves and beat them 123-112. Since it was just a preseason game, Haliburton played just 16 minutes. In that time, he tallied seven points, six rebounds, six assists, two blocks (!!), a steal, and a turnover.

But more than his counting stats, Haliburton looked like the absolute enigma he was prior to his injury -- racing down the floor at a million miles per hour yet slowing down the game in his brain to a snail's pace.

It's still too early to tell for sure, but at the very least, all the jokes people were making about Haliburton's weight gain seem to be white noise.

And if Haliburton is back in the mix, so are the Pacers. As of right now, sportsbooks like FanDuel only give the team the eighth-best odds to win the Eastern Conference. But the last time this group was together, their blend of pace, tenacity, and ball movement was leagues above any of their conference contemporaries.

On top of that, the team made a big upgrade at the center spot -- swapping the reliable, yet flawed Myles Turner for one of the best defensive fives in the entire league in Ivica Zubac. I'm also more fond of their backup center situation (Jay Huff) than I was during their aforementioned Finals run (Thomas Bryant/Tony Bradley).

It will suck not having a wildcard like Bennedict Mathurin around to swing the occasional game for you. However, his ball-dominant style ran in stark contrast to the team's overall philosphy, and the loss of his usage can be easily outweighed by another mini-leap from Andrew Nembhard. Off the bench, a leap from Jarace Walker or Johnny Furphy (who will start out the season injured) could also be in the cards. Kelly Oubre Jr. is also around now.

I'm not saying the Pacers should be considered the premier team in the Eastern Conference, but with Haliburton healthy and the pieces they have around him, they have the power to beat any team in a seven-game series. That makes them the exact kind of team that no one wants to play.

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