Pacers To Waive Micah Potter

Following stints with Detroit and Utah, Potter appeared in a career-high 47 games in 2025/26 in his fifth NBA season, emerging as a rotation player for an Indiana team hit hard by injuries. The 28-year-old averaged 9.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 19.3 minutes per contest, posting an excellent .515/.423/.842 shooting line.

The Pacers’ deal with the 6’9″ center included a $2.8MM team option for 2026/27, which the club exercised last week, but the terms of the agreement called for that salary to remain non-guaranteed even after the option was picked up. That means none of Potter’s salary will remain on Indiana’s books once he’s waived.

Given how admirably he handled his increased role last season, I could see the Pacers bringing back Potter on a new non-guaranteed, minimum-salary contract that would carry a more team-friendly cap hit ($2.45MM instead of $2.8MM). That’s just my speculation though, and unless the club is able to shed additional salary, it might need to be an Exhibit 10 contract rather than a standard deal, so that it doesn’t count for cap and apron purposes.

Of course, Potter would have to pass through waivers to become eligible to re-sign with the Pacers or to choose his next destination. Since he was on a minimum-salary contract, any team would have the ability to place a claim on him using the minimum salary exception.