Kevin Pritchard offers thoughts on Pacers' past season, Turner's departure and the upcoming season without Haliburton
The Pacers' prez was finally able to address the media after making it from Game 7 to the NBA Draft a few days later and then waiting for free agent transaction to become official.
While the Pacers have been publicly quiet since their tragic Game 7 loss that included a devastating Achilles injury to Tyrese Haliburton, they have also been plenty busy. The NBA draft was a few days after Game 7 which lead into the NBA’s Free Agent negotiating period until Sunday, just two weeks after Game 7, when teams were able to make transactions official and talk about the moves.
The Pacers had to wait a day with the Bucks’ signing of free agent Myles Turner not going official until Monday. So, finally, Pacers President of Basketball Operations, Kevin Pritchard addressed the media and took questions in an informal stand up session after the Summer Pacers practice.
Here are some news and notes from what Pritchard shared:
Pritchard felt good about how negotiations were going with Myles Turner’s agent, felt they were both dealing in good faith. That is until Pritchard learned that Turner was going to sign with the Bucks like the rest of us — via the Shams Charania tweet. Turner was offered a contract he wanted to take and did not give the Pacers a chance to counter. Of course, the Bucks may have said take it or leave it or Turner may have been looking to move on instead of negotiating for more money with the Pacers.
Pritchard confirmed going into the luxury tax was not an issue, even with Haliburton out for the year. With reports of offers somewhere between $20 mil to $24+ mil, that checks out. Even a $20 mil offer would’ve put the Pacers into the tax once they filled the remaining roster. Regardless, that matters not now, although with more contract extensions in the future, that approach would be appreciated. Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin are extension eligible now, which will likely be the next order of business later in the summer.
Pritchard lauded Haliburton for being in the gym and supporting the Summer Pacers, maintaining his face of the franchise leadership role. He also confirmed that Haliburton will not be playing in the 2025-26 season regardless of how well his recovery is going.
Pritchard open the session talking about how much he enjoyed the past two seasons and the results of breaking up a pretty good team and retooling it into a championship caliber team. He also shared info on a conversation he had with Tyrese Haliburton just prior to Game 7. Haliburton was calming Pritchard’s nerves, telling the team prez, “Don’t worry, we got this.” Then Pritchard felt like the rest of us after Haliburton made three 3-pointers at the start of the game, assured they were going to win that game. Still…just crushing.
Pritchard also revealed that the team was about to sign James Wiseman (which they did, to a two-year minimum deal with a team option for the second year). He also indicated they would likely sign Isaiah Jackson (although he couldn’t say his name) in an effort to cobble together a ‘center by committee’ approach with Jay Huff. Tony Bradley remains an option, as well which works well as insurance considering Wiseman and IJax have to be cleared and show they are ready to return fully from their respective Achilles injuries. Honestly, just sick of typing the word, Achilles.
As for the Summer Pacers, Johnny Furphy has stood out in the practice sessions. Pritchard said he’s put on 20 pounds this year and it is showing up on the court. He also spoke about the rookies, referring to Kam Jones as just a Pacers type of player which checks out when you see him on the court or hear him talking about the game. Sounds like Jones is dealing with a little hammy issue so that may limit his game time in Vegas.
Pritchard also praised the coaching staff in his opening comment, calling it a master class by the whole staff as they pushed the Pacers to the NBA Finals. He also mentioned he hopes people write the team off for next year, feeling they will still be ready to compete even without Haliburton.