Cascading injuries quickly ruining Pacers season

The follow-up to their NBA Finals campaign last season was always going to be tough for the Indiana Pacers without the injured Tyrese Haliburton. But a rash of other injuries is making a playoff run less likely than a trip to the top of the draft lottery.

Obi Toppin was the latest Pacer to go down, leaving Sunday's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves with a foot injury. Friday, head coach Rick Carlisle revealed that Toppin needs to have surgery on his right foot, and won't return until "probably Feb. 1 in three months."

The Pacers were already running out of players

Indiana signed Mac McClung this week after guards Andrew Nembhard (shoulder) and Bennedict Mathurin (toe) both suffered injuries. Not only is their usual starting point guard out for the season with a torn Achilles, but his replacement is out. So are backups T.J. McConnell, who has a hamstring injury, and rookie Kam Jones, who has a sore back.

Now their frontcourt is also getting affected by the injury bug. Indiana was already cobbling together a big man rotation after Myles Turner left for the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency. Now Toppin is going to miss more than 40 games, leaving the Pacers scrambling to simply find healthy bodies to take the floor.

Indiana may take a "gap year" while they try to get healthy

Indiana fell to 0-5 after Friday's 128-108 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, playing a lineup full of fringe NBA players. 27-year-old Quenton Jackson, who had played 40 games in three NBA seasons before this season, started and played 22 minutes. RayJ Dennis, undrafted out of Baylor in 2024, has played more minutes (111) in the last four games than in his entire career before that (70). McClung played four NBA games before this season.

0-5 isn't an impossible hole to climb out of, but with so many injuries, the Pacers will soon reach a point where there's no longer a reason to rush players back. After next week, when the Pacers play the Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets and Golden State Warriors twice, the Pacers could be 1-9 or 0-10 by next Sunday.

But the Pacers got their own 2026 first-round back last summer, which means losing games might not be terrible for them, long-term. Four of their starters from last year's Finals team are signed through at least 2028. The chance to add a high lottery pick to that core has to be tempting, especially when the team doesn't look anything like a playoff team, much less a title contender.

They also might not have a chance. It's not really tanking if a team is playing G Leaguers and two-way players, because they don't have anyone else left.