After a Cinderella run to Game 7 of the NBA Finals last summer, the Indiana Pacers have fallen back to Earth -- and Rick Carlisle's men have fallen hard.
Entering play Tuesday, the Pacers' 1-9 record is the second-worst by winning percentage in the NBA. Indiana has been solid defensively (11th in defensive rating), but without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers rank dead last in points per 100 possession and 29th in points per game.
Haliburton is out for the season due to the Achilles tendon rupture he sustained in Game 7 of the Finals, and veteran big man Myles Turner signed with the Milwaukee Bucks as a free agent. As such, it is setting up to be a long season -- with a lot of losing -- in Indy.
Pacers tipped to draft the next Jaylen Brown
The Pacers have not lost 60-plus games in a season since 1984/85, a run that may well be poised to end this season. However, help is on the way in the 2026 NBA Draft, where the Pacers should own one of the first selections.
A new mock draft on Bleacher Report has Indiana choosing BYU phenom AJ Dybantsa, a 6'9'' wing with overpowering physical strength and a smooth touch around the rim.
Drafting Dybantsa as a healthy Haliburton's new sidekick would help longtime coach Carlisle and top executive Kevin Pritchard chart a course back to championship contention after what is expected to be a highly-difficult 2025/26 season. Dybantsa stood out in high school as a perimeter shooter, a quality fans have not yet seen in his first games as a BYU Cougar, but Dybantsa was a five-star recruit for a reason.
Dybantsa's overall skillset has merited comparisons to the Boston Celtics' All-NBA forward Jaylen Brown. Dybantsa too is expected to enjoy a long, fruitful NBA career when he does debut next year, and he would be key to Indiana's bounce-back from the challenges that the Pacers -- who have used 19 players in 10 games -- already are facing.
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