Hoosier Enquirer Prediction: Don't Sleep on the Pacers. They Could Go From 19 Wins Back to 50 Wins in the Coming Season

Maybe they will play better than their golf games....yes cers!

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers won 19 games last season. The Hoosier Enquirer prediction for 2026–27: forget almost everything that record tells you.

We see Indiana winning 49 to 52 games, returning to the playoffs and becoming one of the most dangerous teams in the Eastern Conference. A return to the Eastern Conference Finals is entirely plausible, and another trip to the NBA Finals would not shock us.

That may sound wildly optimistic for a franchise coming off 19–63. It isn't.

The Pacers who stumbled through last season weren't remotely the team that came within one Game 7 of winning the 2025 NBA championship. Tyrese Haliburton missed the entire season recovering from the torn right Achilles he suffered against Oklahoma City in that Finals finale, while injuries battered the rest of Rick Carlisle's roster.

Now Haliburton is coming back.

“If the season was today, I'd be ready,” Haliburton said earlier this month. He has also cautioned that being physically cleared isn't quite the same as returning immediately to peak “Tyrese Haliburton shape.” That distinction could determine whether Indiana merely returns to the playoffs or becomes a genuine championship threat.

This Isn't the Same Team Haliburton Left

The biggest reason for optimism may be standing 7 feet tall.

Ivica Zubac arrived from the Los Angeles Clippers at last season's trade deadline and played only five games for Indiana. Now Carlisle gets an entire training camp to integrate a legitimate interior presence into a team that reached the 2025 Finals without him.

Put Haliburton back at point guard, Pascal Siakam at power forward and Zubac in the middle, then surround them with Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and Indiana's familiar collection of runners and shooters.

Suddenly 19–63 becomes ancient history.

Indiana also added Larry Nance Jr. and Kelly Oubre Jr., giving Carlisle additional veteran options around a returning core. NBA.com's preseason assessment calls Indiana the Central Division's great wild card and says a healthy Haliburton could make the Pacers a playoff sleeper.

We think “sleeper” undersells them.

The East Isn't Waiting

There is one considerable problem with predicting an Indiana renaissance: everybody else has plans, too.

The New York Knicks enter as defending champions. Detroit and Cleveland combined for 112 victories last season. Boston remains formidable, while Philadelphia and Toronto are receiving plenty of preseason respect.

The betting market is particularly skeptical about Indiana. Recent championship futures have placed the Pacers around +4500 to +5000, well behind the favorites. One recent power ranking put Indiana only 12th overall.

Good.

The Pacers played some of their best basketball when the rest of the country insisted they weren't supposed to be there.

HE's 2026–27 Pacers Prediction

Regular-season record: 50–32.

The first couple of months may be uneven as Haliburton rediscovers NBA game speed and Carlisle figures out exactly how Zubac fits Indiana's frenetic offense. Expect minutes management and probably some frustrating nights.

By January, however, this should look much more like the Pacers team Indiana remembers.

Central Division: Second place.

Detroit and Cleveland make winning the division difficult. Indiana doesn't need a division banner to have a successful season.

Eastern Conference: Top six, with top four possible.

Health is the variable. If Haliburton is 90% of his pre-injury self, Indiana should avoid the play-in. If he's 100%, move the Pacers toward the top of the conference.

Playoffs: Eastern Conference semifinals minimum; conference finals prediction.

Indiana's style becomes particularly unpleasant in a seven-game series. Carlisle can adjust, Siakam has championship experience, Nembhard has repeatedly shown he isn't frightened by playoff pressure, and Haliburton has already demonstrated that he can control postseason games.

Zubac could provide something those previous Pacers playoff teams lacked: size and interior resistance without sacrificing a dependable offensive option.

NBA Finals: Possible. Championship: Not yet our prediction.

Oklahoma City, San Antonio and several Eastern contenders explain why Indiana isn't our championship favorite. But +4500 odds suggest a team considerably farther from contention than we believe these Pacers actually are.

The Number That Matters Isn't 19

Indiana basketball fans endured last season knowing what was missing.

Now they get to find out whether the Pacers' remarkable 2025 run was the beginning of something rather than the end of it.

Haliburton is 26. Siakam remains an established star. Nembhard is entering his prime.

Nesmith fits Carlisle's system. Zubac gives Indiana a genuine center. The roster has depth, playoff experience and something else that shouldn't be underestimated after a miserable year: hunger.

Training camp opens Sept. 29. Haliburton says he is “chomping at the bit.”

So are Pacers fans.

Hoosier Enquirer prediction: 50 wins, a top-six Eastern Conference finish and another run to the conference finals.

And if Haliburton looks by Christmas like the player who carried Indiana within one victory of an NBA championship? Change HE's prediction. The Finals will be back in play.