The Pacers’ trade in NBA Finals suddenly looks genius after Tyrese Haliburton’s injury

It’s not often a team makes a trade while they’re playing in the NBA Finals, but the Indiana Pacers pulled it off last week. As Indiana was locked in an intense battle with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the front office completed a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans that suddenly looks like a stroke of genius following the worst possible scenario playing out in the series.

Tyrese Haliburton suffered an Achilles injury in the first quarter of Game 7 that ended his night. The Oklahoma City Thunder went on to beat Indiana, 103-91, to win the NBA championship. Haliburton hasn’t had an MRI yet, but there’s plenty of speculation that he tore his Achilles, an injury that would cost him all of next season.

Haliburton’s Game 7 Achilles injury is one of the most heartbreaking injuries in league history given the stakes. He had been so heroic in the NBA Playoffs by hitting clutch shots to cap miracle comebacks in every series, including his Game 1 buzzer-beater to stun the Thunder in the NBA Finals. The star guard suffered a calf strain early in the series, which was described as a likely multi-week injury if it happened during the regular season. Haliburton played and played well in in the Pacers’ season-saving Game 6 win after being listed as a game-time decision. The bill came due in devastating fashion in Game 7.

The Pacers just won’t be the same team if Haliburton is out for all of next season. Indiana could still be pretty good in a wide open Eastern Conference. Because of a trade they made during the NBA Finals, they now have another option.

The Pacers re-acquired their unprotected 2026 first-round draft pick in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans during the NBA Finals. The Pacers had originally traded their pick to the Toronto Raptors as part of the Pascal Siakam trade, which was then re-routed to New Orleans in the Brandon Ingram trade.

The Pacers sent their No. 23 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft to the Pelicans for their 2026 pick back. The Pelicans wanted another pick in this draft. The Pacers gained complete control of their future in the process. If the Pacers decide they want to tank at any point next year should Haliburton be out, now they have the option.

The Pelicans are projected to take Asa Newell in the latest SB Nation NBA mock draft. There will be good players on the board in that range, but it’s odd the Pelicans would trade an unprotected pick for one as low as No. 23 this year. The fact that this is a thin draft after so many players returned to college basketball for big NIL checks just makes the Pelicans’ decision even stranger. Of course, the Pelicans were probably convinced the Pacers would be great next year after watching how hard they played in the NBA Finals. As a first move for the Joe Dumars era in New Orleans, it wasn’t encouraging.

There’s absolutely no silver lining to the Haliburton injury. This is the worst case scenario for a Pacers franchise that will have a hard time getting back to this stage. You can never really predict how a player will recover from an Achilles tear (if that’s what happened), though Haliburton is young at 25 years old and will hopefully be able to get right eventually. Let’s be clear: the Pacers could still be very good without Haliburton, the East remains terrible, and you can’t count out Indiana’s supporting cast at this point.

If next season doesn’t go the way Indiana wants, though, at least they have the option to pivot. The 2026 NBA Draft is absolutely loaded at the top, and if anyone deserves a little luck, it’s the Pacers after Haliburton’s injury.

Good teams win at the margins consistently, and the Pacers did it again.