NBA Thread

[RaceToTheTop]

Well, solid season for the Pacers.  Nobody would have ever expected them to get this close to a title.

[HoosierHoopster]

Hali getting injured/ re-injured just killed them, great effort through the half but without him, best player down, just don’t have the horses. Really a shame, he came out so aggressively.

[RoadRage]

Watching the video of that injury, Pacers will be lucky to have Haliburton back next season, at least the beginning of the season! 

[hoopsta007]

54 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Not what I said….

I would greatly enjoy the NBA being actual basketball though. 
 

The simple fact is the NBA didn’t have the refs helping the thunder all year to let them win now.  They were always going to let do whatever it took on defense 

At this point we need to accept that the nba is essentially the WWE.  We are expecting the officials to call by the rules and say they are trash when they miss calls when in reality they are doing their job perfectly.

[cbp4iu]

After watching the entire post season I’m ready to announce my thoughts….

#1 pacers hell of a run. 
#2 SGA/Brunson style of basketball is brutal to watch. Thank goodness college isn’t like that. I think it hurts the brand more than helps.

#3 so glad it was a smart market finals.

#4 is such a crappy product. 
#5 not a NBA guy but was fun to watch. I hope the Pacers aren’t stupid and pay myles. Personally they are better off punting next year and retooling. Hali’s injury is going to cost him 6-8 months at the minimum. 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

Definitely a fun season where they overachieved. Bunch guys playing above their standing. But the physical tools ultimately won out for OKC. Length, athleticism.

Seems like a microcosm of the hope for IUBB this season. Hopefully Team better than sum of their parts. I think we have a limited ceiling.

But Pacers were generally fun to watch. Hit shots and played hard.


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[RaceToTheTop]

25 minutes ago, cbp4iu said:

Hali’s injury is going to cost him 6-8 months at the minimum. 

Seems like a hot take based on no information.

In terms of Turner, I am inclined to agree that they are better off not overspending.  Defensively he fits but I think they would be better off with a guy who doesn't necessarily add much offensively but is a plus rebounder.

And my God, get Mathurin to buy in on defense.  Guy certainly can score but just gives up too much on the other end.

[Hoosierfan2017]

13 minutes ago, RaceToTheTop said:

Seems like a hot take based on no information.

In terms of Turner, I am inclined to agree that they are better off not overspending.  Defensively he fits but I think they would be better off with a guy who doesn't necessarily add much offensively but is a plus rebounder.

And my God, get Mathurin to buy in on defense.  Guy certainly can score but just gives up too much on the other end.

He definitely tore his Achilles. You could see it happen on the replay. 

SGA was 8-27 from the field and still ended up with 29 points. Just a disgusting free throw merchant. 

[BtownStrength]

1 hour ago, cbp4iu said:

After watching the entire post season I’m ready to announce my thoughts….

#1 pacers hell of a run. 
#2 SGA/Brunson style of basketball is brutal to watch. Thank goodness college isn’t like that. I think it hurts the brand more than helps.

#3 so glad it was a smart market finals.

#4 is such a crappy product. 
#5 not a NBA guy but was fun to watch. I hope the Pacers aren’t stupid and pay myles. Personally they are better off punting next year and retooling. Hali’s injury is going to cost him 6-8 months at the minimum. 

To this point, the Pacers management + Carlisle would never purposely tank. I agree it might be in their best interest (especially if they can get a high draft pick), but the org would never go for it and frankly the Pacers have too much other talent to tank as constructed even without Hali. 

[Brass Cannon]

1 hour ago, hoopsta007 said:

At this point we need to accept that the nba is essentially the WWE.  We are expecting the officials to call by the rules and say they are trash when they miss calls when in reality they are doing their job perfectly.

Exactly people are too accepting of different officiating “styles”. 
 

The issue is those styles help some teams and hurt others. Allowing for the game to be influenced even if the refs are not crooked per se. 
 

The Thunder had a better record than their season average with these refs.  The pacers a far worse record than their season average with these refs. 
 

If the league wanted to fix this(they don’t) they would try to make all refs consistent. 
 

Now I personally think that is an issue exacerbated by the refs being given things to “focus on”. That benefit one team over the other. 
 

The officiating should not look totally different between games 6 and 7.  

[Pagoda]

Well that f'in sucked. 

Phenomenal season by the Pacers.  When you get to game seven of the finals, just stay the course.  It may take a little longer with Hali's recovery, but this team was one game away from winning the championship -- only small changes are needed.

[Demo]

7 hours ago, BtownStrength said:

To this point, the Pacers management + Carlisle would never purposely tank. I agree it might be in their best interest (especially if they can get a high draft pick), but the org would never go for it and frankly the Pacers have too much other talent to tank as constructed even without Hali. 

I agree that they won’t and they shouldn’t. The interesting question is what do you do with Turner. If Haliburton isn’t hurt you sign him and run it back. But do you go over the tax to give something like 3/90 to a guy entering his age 30 season who’s starting to fade physically, particularly when you know you’re not contending next year. So you’re basically paying the luxury tax and 90 million under the assumption he can be an important piece of a contending team when he’s 31-32. Not sure I’m on board. Can see that contract not being good at all. But if they let him walk they have 2 off seasons to find the next guy. Kind of think that’s where I am. 

[Hovadipo]

43 minutes ago, Demo said:

I agree that they won’t and they shouldn’t. The interesting question is what do you do with Turner. If Haliburton isn’t hurt you sign him and run it back. But do you go over the tax to give something like 3/90 to a guy entering his age 30 season who’s starting to fade physically, particularly when you know you’re not contending next year. So you’re basically paying the luxury tax and 90 million under the assumption he can be an important piece of a contending team when he’s 31-32. Not sure I’m on board. Can see that contract not being good at all. But if they let him walk they have 2 off seasons to find the next guy. Kind of think that’s where I am. 

I hadn’t considered this yet, but it’s a major wrinkle. Pacers are still a playoff team in 25-26 imo, but does Myles want to chance that? From the Pacers perspective, they have a rapidly approaching decision to make on Mathurin too which depending on what happens with Myles is a 2nd apron discussion. Spooky. 

[cbp4iu]

26 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

I hadn’t considered this yet, but it’s a major wrinkle. Pacers are still a playoff team in 25-26 imo, but does Myles want to chance that? From the Pacers perspective, they have a rapidly approaching decision to make on Mathurin too which depending on what happens with Myles is a 2nd apron discussion. Spooky. 

Personally I let Myles walk and give Mathurin this season to see if he can pull it together. Mathurin reminds me of Troy Williams it’s scary… Either going to win you games or makes some awful plays on loop

[HoosierHoopster]

Yeah looks like Hali may well be out all next season, similarities to Durant's torn achilles in the Finals a few years back.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6444379/2025/06/22/tyrese-haliburton-injury-nba-finals-game-7/

P's had a real shot at a title on the Thunder's floor the way Hali was playing, such a shame -- but he'll be back. The questions on Turner will probably turn on the timeline of Hali's return.

[Demo]

2 hours ago, Hovadipo said:

I hadn’t considered this yet, but it’s a major wrinkle. Pacers are still a playoff team in 25-26 imo, but does Myles want to chance that? From the Pacers perspective, they have a rapidly approaching decision to make on Mathurin too which depending on what happens with Myles is a 2nd apron discussion. Spooky. 

Gotta confess, have always liked Nic Claxton a fair bit. Rebounder/defender/rim runner who doesn’t need the ball and always plays hard. Perimeter switchability. Younger and I imagine makes a fair bit less than Myles will command. No idea what it would take, but since the Nets remain in perpetual rebuild, I believe I might make that call. And hopefully Jackson will come back healthy from his Achilles. Have always liked his minutes.

[Aaron]

Best Pacers season ever with such an unfortunate ending, similar to a great fantasy novel with a 'tragic' final chapter.

Pacers have some fascinating decisions now. Do you bring Turner back and pay luxury tax next season to win 45 games and lose in first round knowing you are a likely contender in 26-27 (I fully expect Haliburton to be healthy for 2026-27 given his age and the strengths of his game being shooting and passing and not athleticism)?

Pritchard is shrewd at making trades so do you move Mathurin now or at trade deadline knowing he will be out of your price range if you sign Turner (can't go into second apron anymore for long and that goes for ALL teams which signing Mathurin would do)? Without Hali, expect Mathurin to have huge season in contract year, but how worth it is he to be sixth seed knowing he won't be back after it?

Kevin Pritchard is a shrewd trader and elite GM and has most fascinating offseason ever, knowing current roster will be only decent in 25-26 and then a reopen championship window in 2026-2027 with rest of core signed long term on team friendly deals (and unlike NFL, NBA has fully guaranteed contracts, so tradeoff is you cannot ask for more money as a player when overachieving. What you sign for is what you make until deal runs out with no changes or exceptions allowed).

 

[Hovadipo]

37 minutes ago, Demo said:

Gotta confess, have always liked Nic Claxton a fair bit. Rebounder/defender/rim runner who doesn’t need the ball and always plays hard. Perimeter switchability. Younger and I imagine makes a fair bit less than Myles will command. No idea what it would take, but since the Nets remain in perpetual rebuild, I believe I might make that call. And hopefully Jackson will come back healthy from his Achilles. Have always liked his minutes.

I like Claxton too. There’s some untapped skill there from his UGA days that would be fascinating to see Rick get his hands on. I love Myles, especially the guy, but I’m not sure how much sense it makes for him or Indy after last night the more I chew on it. I think that decision will let us know where they stand on Benn too. Next season is going to be really weird. 

[Demo]

https://www.theringer.com/2025/06/23/nba/indiana-pacers-tyrese-haliburton-injury-nba-finals-2025

Really nice article on the Pacers. The Ringer’s NBA coverage is so hell and gone better than ESPN’s that those guys really should be embarrassed.

[HoosierHoopster]

22 minutes ago, Demo said:

https://www.theringer.com/2025/06/23/nba/indiana-pacers-tyrese-haliburton-injury-nba-finals-2025

Really nice article on the Pacers. The Ringer’s NBA coverage is so hell and gone better than ESPN’s that those guys really should be embarrassed.

Excellent article