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As has been widely reported, league sources shared that the Pacers have made trade calls looking for a starting-caliber center. They are in the market for interior talent to fortify the team's starting five ahead of Tyrese Haliburton's eventual return to the hardwood.
"I'm approaching Week 31 here, so almost going on eight months," Haliburton said. "Man, I feel really good. My body feels really good. I just started playing 3-on-3 and 4-on-4 full court. That's been good to be with the [player development] interns and stuff. It's been funny because as I've started playing with the interns and [assistant coach] Jannero Pargo, one of our player development guys, I'm playing with these guys and I feel so nice. I'm like, 'Ooh, I can play in an NBA game right now.'"
Tyrese Haliburton says he wants to be more physical when he returns from injury “I was 180 pounds on game 7 day, I’m 210 now — I’m up 30 pounds bro. Some of it’s not good because I’ve been drowning my sorrows in cookies and ice cream.”
Fullcourtpass: Tyrese Haliburton says he wants to be more physical when he returns from injury “I was 180 pounds on game 7 day, I’m 210 now — I’m up 30 pounds bro. Some of it’s not good because I’ve been drowning my sorrows in cookies and ice cream.” (Via @mindthegamepod)
Tyrese Haliburton: I’ve never told anybody this story before. So we’re at the Olympics. We’re in the back, doing film before the Olympics start. And before it starts, it’s like, ‘Alright, we’re gonna have the team meeting where we acknowledge that all 12 guys cannot play.’ And so Steve starts talking about, ‘Everybody can’t play.’ And—and Bron is talking about how, you know, in the '04 Olympics, ‘I didn’t really play that much,’ and, you know, you gotta put your pride aside to—you know, it’s about bigger than you. And—and KD’s over there like, ‘At the end of the day, we’re 12 All-Stars. Everybody’s good. We’re trying to win,’ right?
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Tyrese Haliburton: And I’m sitting there, and I’m listening, I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ And as we start film, I’m like... But who are they talking about? Like, who are they—? And I’m looking, I’m looking around. I’m like, ‘Oh, he ain’t talking about him. He ain’t talking about him.’ I’m like: Oh, they talking about me. I was sitting there, I’m like, ‘Oh no. This—this is what it is.’ I was like, ‘Oh.’ I was sitting there, I’m watching film. I can’t even pay attention to film. I’m so—I’m like, ‘Damn.’ Like, it’s over.
Indiana Pacers: Injury Report for tomorrow’s game at Atlanta: Quenton Jackson - Questionable (right ankle sprain) Bennedict Mathurin - Questionable (right thumb sprain) Obi Toppin - Out (right foot stress fracture) Tyrese Haliburton - Out (right Achilles tendon tear)
Scott Agness: I’m told Tyrese Haliburton is not with the Pacers tonight in Oklahoma City, the site of his Game 7 injury. He’s been with the team for every game despite being ruled out for the season. This is his first absence.
Jorge Sierra: Remember the poll where Tyrese Haliburton was chosen NBA's most overrated by his peers? Not a fluke. He's No. 37 in player voting for the All-Star since 2017, No. 19 in media voting.
Remember the poll where Tyrese Haliburton was chosen NBA's most overrated by his peers? Not a fluke. He's No. 37 in player voting for the All-Star since 2017, No. 19 in media voting.
— HoopsHype (@hoopshypeofficial.bsky.social) 2026-01-22T17:20:10.658Z
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Worse yet, he was forced to relive that historic loss with every movement, courtesy of a torn right Achilles he suffered midway through that game. Memories of his body crumpled on the court are always close — he still can’t scroll through Instagram or TikTok without being reminded of it. “I think about it every time I blink,” he said of the injury. “I think about it all the time.” Injury rehabilitation, he was learning, was isolating and monotonous. The gym sounds cavernous and thoughts echo in your mind. “I don’t know if I’ll ever not think about it,” he said, “but you gotta understand that you’ve got to move on.”
Tyrese Haliburton was experiencing a new kind of loneliness. His Pacers teammates were off on summer vacations, putting behind them a gutting Game 7 loss in the NBA Finals weeks earlier. He saw everyone experiencing the joys of the offseason whenever he picked up his phone. Their normally jubilant star point guard, though, had been left behind. “I don’t say I’m stuck in Indiana,” Haliburton recalled to The Athletic, “but I was here rehabbing, and I’m in the gym by myself with nobody else in there.”
But it has been tough to move on. For a person whose game is predicated on movement and transition, sitting still has been difficult. Haliburton was limited in his movement, repeating his rehab routine day in and day out at the Pacers’ practice facility. “It just became sad after some time because I just want to be able to do what I normally do and I wasn’t able to do that,” he said. “I had to get approved to even go on vacation, because I had to be able to get the right treatment, and my leg had to be OK for me to fly.”
Haliburton’s village has grown in other ways, too. Players who have suffered the same injury often reach out to each other to offer advice and support. So throughout his recovery, Haliburton has been in touch with a new kind of brotherhood: Celtics star Jayson Tatum, future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant and Pelicans All-Star Dejounte Murray. Some of them he already knew well; others became more recently bonded by the shared experience. Durant, who suffered an Achilles tear during Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, after he returned from a calf strain, was one of the first people Haliburton spoke with after his injury.
