2 Pacers players in danger of losing starting jobs in 2025-26 training camp

McConnell proved on the biggest stage imaginable in the NBA that he is a crucial member of the Pacers squad and is indispensable, not just for his locker room presence and leadership, but for the spark he provides off the bench.

McConnell was one of the biggest reasons why the Pacers remained competitive even after Haliburton went down in Game 7, as he was getting to his spot at will and getting bucket after bucket as Indiana mustered one last gasp in an attempt to prevent the powerhouse Thunder from sealing the championship.

With Haliburton out, one would assume that McConnell is going to step into a starting spot in a one for one replacement for Haliburton situation. But the Pacers may not head towards that direction, not when Andrew Nembhard is also a capable point guard to assume primary ballhandling and playmaking duties with Haliburton on the mend.

What the Pacers will need with Haliburton out is someone who can push the pace and get buckets for the team; what made Haliburton so dangerous as a lead guard was his ability to do his damage from the perimeter as one of the highest-volume three-point shooting playmaking guards in the NBA.

McConnell is not that kind of player; he wants to get to his spots in the paint and loves to push the pace at will while being a disruptive defensive presence. Across an 82-game regular-season grind, playing as hard as he does in a 30-plus-minute starting role is going to run him to the ground, which would be to the detriment of this shorthanded Pacers squad.

If anything, it looks as though Carlisle could lean into Mathurin as a starter for the Pacers for this upcoming season. Mathurin is a bucket-getter, someone who can get to the foul line at will all while being a huge presence on the glass as well. With the Pacers missing Haliburton’s floor-spacing ways, Indiana will have to rely on someone as offensively-gifted as Mathurin for them to maintain the incredible offensive levels they’ve been playing at over the past few seasons.

One might also think that the Pacers could instead start McConnell and Nembhard together, with Nesmith instead taking the demotion for Mathurin. But considering how Nesmith blossomed into a 3-and-D force during the 2025 NBA playoffs, there might be riots in Indianapolis if the Pacers decide to remove him from the starting lineup — especially when they went 29-16 with him in the regular season and 21-16 without him.

McConnell’s game is best suited for a sixth man, and it might be for the best anyway for the Pacers to utilize him as a spark plug extraordinaire, fueling his Sixth Man of the Year award candidacy in the process.

Tony Bradley: playoff hero to regular-season zero?

Turner’s decision to chase a bigger contract with the Bucks has put the Pacers in quite a bind. He’s been the team’s starting center for so long that it would be so jarring to see another player start for the team at that position to begin the year.

It’s not quite clear yet who the Pacers will be starting at the five. The floor-spacing Turner provided is indispensable and irreplaceable, and Indiana will have to change the way they play if they decide to start someone like Isaiah Jackson or Tony Bradley at the five. Obi Toppin could also become the starter, but that’s just going to be a recipe for season-long defensive disaster.

Jay Huff, the Pacers’ buy-low acquisition, might be the favorite to start out of training camp. He averaged just 6.9 points per game last year, but he shot over 40 percent from deep last year and made over a triple per game, and he also emerged as a legitimate rim protector, averaging nearly a block per game despite playing in just around 12 minutes per ballgame.

He’s the player the Pacers have that has a playstyle that most closely resembles that of Turner’s, so it won’t be much of an adjustment at all for Indiana if they decide to start Huff, at least to begin the year.

With Jackson’s return and Huff’s arrival, Bradley could find himself on the outside looking in on the rotation. Bradley came all the way from the G-League to provide quality minutes for the Pacers in the playoffs, as he was called upon to combat Mitchell Robinson on the boards in the Eastern Conference Finals. But he might not be more than a break glass in case of emergency option for the Pacers yet again this season.