The Pacers Are About To Remind The NBA
The Indiana Pacers are being treated like a middle-of-the-pack NBA team entering the 2026–27 season. ESPN’s Basketball Power Index has them 15th. I have them as one of the six teams with a legitimate chance to win the championship.
The last time Tyrese Haliburton was healthy, Indiana came within one game of winning the NBA Finals. Now Haliburton is returning, Andrew Nembhard has developed as a creator, Ivica Zubac changes the way this team can play, and the Pacers might be even deeper than they were during their Finals run.
So what exactly happened that supposedly turned Indiana from a championship contender into an average team?
In this video, I break down Haliburton’s return, the Zubac fit, Indiana’s ridiculous depth, their relentless style and the real reasons this championship case could still fall apart.
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// TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 The NBA Forgot About Indiana
0:42 Haliburton Changes Everything
3:33 Zubac Changes The Offense
8:38 This Depth Is Ridiculous
11:44 What Would Actually Make Me Wrong?
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#nba #nbahighlights #basketball #sports #hoops #athlete #basketballrankings #ballislife #bestplayers #nbaanalysis #lakers #lebronjames #nbarecaps #nbaplayoffs #bucks #celtics #spurs #nuggets #warriors #stephencurry #stephcurry #bulls #lukadoncic #mavs
Thanks for watching this is The Pacers Might Actually Win The NBA Championship
im way too early
Top 5 team
Hope they beat the sleeves off the knicks
6th I think is a little bit of a strech
Imo
On paper I’d pick
SAS-NY-OKC-Twolves-Miami-Detroit
Over them atm
I’d have them in the 8-12 tier
In the mix with teams like
Philly and the Lakers where it’s too soon to tell because of major roster overhaul where they could be top contenders or just very good teams that are hard 2nd round exits
Spurs vs pacers in the finals you heard it hear first
Genuinely hali is just comeing back and praiseing them all ready is not the best idea i could name 10 teams over them tbh
A lot of teams improved enough for them to slide down the rankings, nothing more nothing less
Im going top 4 team. I suspect they start slow, once they get going they will be a juggernaut. No team other then okc is as deep as Indiana. Who ever think other wise havent been tuned in for real in the past 4 years.
Say it louder for the doubters.
Finally someone gets it. Superb analysis. Go Pacers!
Love this channel and how much love you show too the pacers bro much love too you and the channel fam keep up the amazing content
wait you said this team can survive injuries even tho they have pretty much the same team as last year and were one of the worst. i think espn ranked them at 15 because it will take time to gel but if everything goes right like the best case scenarios like you were showing than they are a team to reckon with. nice video tho keep up the good work
I have them making the play in, I’m just not convinced until I see them being as good as people make out. Happy to be proven wrong but I think people are over hyped over one play off run. Respectfully
They are one Haliburton Achilles away from winning it all in 2025 (even then he was playing hurt). They also beat the same Knicks team who won the championship this year. As long as they are healthy, I dont see why not 👍🏼
I think an aspect of the team that flies under the radar is that initially Siakam saw Turner as a floor spacer that would accommodate his back to the basket scoring style. Since joining the Pacers Siakam has been a reliable 3 point shooter himself, and that will now enable Zubac to have space to work in the paint.
Zu is a way better outlet passes than Myles by miles. If the pass to Ty or Drew is ten feet up court that's way faster than a hand off from Myles.
Their PBI is 12th
Pacers are about to remind the NBA why they're a middle of the pack team?
Listen, not every team can be a winning team.
The Indiana Pacers are really the 2nd best team in the NBA Eastern Conference, not the Philadelphia 76ers.
Don't sleep on the Pacers
Pacers will be tied for last with the Heat. Ben Simmons and the Kings are your 2026/27 NBA Champions!!!
No one has forgotten, the world wants to see Tyrese healthy for long enough to determine their trajectory
remind them lol yeah ok they are 6th 7th seed.
W take finally someone is right on this app
You're one of the few youtube analysts that understands the Zu trade. The group of Pacers fans I pal around with have a saying: "In Pritchard we trust." He has built an amazing team where the whole truly is better than the sum of its parts.
People just don't understand team basketball, I guess. They're too busy building a fantasy team, so they pass on reality teams and focus on superstars. They're looking at player stats and not team stats. So, when the Pacers start going crazy in the playoffs again, they will all be surprised again.
(I watch 70+ regular season Pacers games a year. Ask me anything)