The Pacers will have to cope without their star player Tyrese Haliburton for the entire 2025-26 season and possibly beyond, but coach Carlisle is trying to embrace it.
“Our fans this year are going to be in for a very interesting year,” Carlisle said on the Bas”ketball She Wrote” podcast . “It’s going to be a team that looks quite different. I don’t think it can be overstated how great of a player Tyrese Haliburton is. … We’re going to miss Tyrese a lot. People are going to find out. I know how great he is. Unfortunately I’m going to find out even more how great he is by not having him with us this year.”
Carlisle added, “Pascal is now going to become more of a primary ball-handler.”
The coach says a more physical style will be key.
“Our game this year is gonna look different,” Carlisle said. “There are going to be times it doesn’t look pretty. We’re going to be more physical. I think we’re going to be a more physical defensive team, all those kinds of things. But things are gonna change.”
One consideration is the burden being placed on Andrew Nembhard, who has been starting at shooting guard but will move to point guard to fill the Haliburton gap.
“Drew is going to have to adjust some,” Carlisle said. “He’s going to have to maintain his aggression defensively, because he loves to defend. This guy is a freak, OK, he doesn’t say (expletive) to anybody. … But we gotta protect Andrew. If we’re going into this year and saying he’s going to play 37 minutes, that’s not gonna happen. He’s going to have to be in the low 30s. T.J. is going to have to have another great year and we’re going to have to have a third guy ready.”
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