The Indiana Pacers received’t rush Tyrese Haliburton again to the court docket subsequent season because the All-Star guard recovers from a torn proper Achilles tendon suffered in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard made it clear Monday that Haliburton will miss all the 2025-26 season, saying at a news convention, “He will be back better than ever … but we’re not going to jeopardize that now. Don’t get your hopes up that he’ll play.”
Haliburton underwent surgical procedure June 23 at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery, the group confirmed.
His postseason heroics – highlighted by buzzer-beaters, jaw-dropping performs and historic stat strains – captivated followers, although the Pacers finally fell 103-91 to the Oklahoma City Thunder within the Finals.
Haliburton just lately wrote on social media: “And honestly, right now, torn Achilles and all, I don’t regret it. I’d do it again, and again after that, to fight for this city and my brothers. For the chance to do something special.”
Pritchard instructed reporters Monday that Haliburton’s mentality “just shows you what kind of kid he is.”
“If you’re asking me, would I have him do it over and over? I would not. I would not,” Pritchard stated. “If I knew that he was going to get hurt, I would sacrifice that game because I care for the kid so much and want him to have an incredible career.”
Pritchard additionally instructed reporters it was a shock to lose Myles Turner in free company to Milwaukee. Turner agreed to a four-year deal to hitch the Bucks, who waived All-Star Damian Lillard to make the acquisition occur.
Turner spent his first 10 seasons with the Pacers.
“I know this, that Herb Simon and Steven Rales and the Simon family were fully prepared to go deep into the tax to keep him,” Pritchard stated. “We really wanted to do that, and we were negotiating in good faith. But what happens in this league is sometimes you’re negotiating, but because a guy is unrestricted, he has the right to say, ‘That’s the offer I want. I’m going to take it and that’s best for my family.’”
“Again, we were in good-faith negotiations. It was a little surprising how Milwaukee created that. We always say in our conference room, there are cap teams that have cap space, and there are shadow teams that have cap space. … It becomes very challenging by buying out or making trades – and hat tip to Milwaukee for doing that.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com