Rick Carlisle Says Pacers Will Keep Their Expectations Behind Closed Doors
· Yahoo Sports
Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle sat down with Draymond Green for a long interview on The Draymond Green Show released this week.
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Carlisle was asked how the organization is framing the season ahead.
"Our expectations internally are going to be high," Carlisle said. "Draymond, you know this, but you don't win championships talking about it in July and August. We're going to keep things on a low profile and internally we'll set our standards high."
Indiana finished 19-63 last season, the worst record in franchise history. Washington was the only team in the league to finish behind the Pacers, at 17-65. Indiana was 14th in the Eastern Conference and fifth in the Central Division. A 15-game losing streak in March was also a franchise record.
Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon in the first quarter of Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals and missed all of last season. Oklahoma City won that game 103-91. Kevin Pritchard ruled Haliburton out for the year on July 7, 2025.
Carlisle was asked about the start of the schedule.
"You know both years we went to the Conference Finals in '24 and the NBA Finals (Game 7) in '25, we had slow starts," Carlisle said. Carlisle said the priority for the summer is health. "Getting everybody completely healthy and ramping up conditioning so that we can have a healthy training camp and get into the season."
The 2024-25 Pacers went 10-2 in January and 20-9 after the All-Star break to finish 50-32.
During Summer League in Las Vegas, Chris Haynes reported that Indiana is optimistic Haliburton will be available for the season opener. The Pacers posted a video on July 25 of Haliburton throwing down a between-the-legs dunk, roughly 13 months after the injury. Haliburton is due $48,924,624 next season, the third year of the five-year, $244 million extension he signed in July 2023. Indiana went 2-3 in Las Vegas.
Green brought up the strength of the Eastern Conference after this offseason before asking Carlisle about the Pacers being a sleeper. Carlisle said the whole league is hard and named teams in both conferences.
"We're not going to do a lot of talking, we're going to do a lot of preparing," Carlisle said.
Kelly Oubre Jr. signed a two-year contract worth nearly $17 million with Indiana in free agency. Last season, he averaged 14.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 30 games with Philadelphia. Larry Nance Jr. signed a one-year contract following the end of last season with Cleveland. Meanwhile, Indiana obtained Braden Smith in a draft-night trade with Chicago.
The Pacers traded for Ivica Zubac from the Los Angeles Clippers at the February deadline for Bennedict Mathurin, Isaiah Jackson, and draft compensation. The top four 10-30 protected 2026 first-round pick was conveyed to the Clippers as the fifth overall selection, which was used on Keaton Wagler.
An ankle injury kept Zubac out until March 12. He played in five games, averaging 11.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 23.6 minutes before a fractured rib ended his season on March 18 against Portland. Zubac, with a salary of $20.3 million next season and $21.8 million in 2027-28, was signed by Indiana to replace Myles Turner, who moved to Milwaukee in 2025.
Pascal Siakam averaged 24.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists last season, earning his fourth All-Star. Last week, he expressed happiness about being in Indianapolis and looked forward to playing with Haliburton and Zubac.
Carlisle signed a multi-year extension after the 2025 Finals, marking his 25th season as an NBA head coach and 38th overall in the league, including assistant roles with New Jersey, Portland, and Indiana. Last season, he became the 11th coach in NBA history to reach 1,000 wins. His staff includes Lloyd Pierce, Jenny Boucek, Jim Boylen, Isaac Yacob, and Jannero Pargo.
The earliest the Pacers can open training camp is Sept. 29.