Pacers dealing with point guard shuffle to begin new season
A wave of injuries has hit the Pacers’ guard rotation — the latest to T.J. McConnell — prompting the team to bring in veteran Cam Payne on a training camp deal.
The Pacers knew Tyrese Haliburton would be out. Team president Kevin Pritchard announced two weeks after their run to the NBA Finals concluded that Haliburton would miss the entire 2025-26 season.
What they didn’t expect was for injuries to several more guards to pile up in the midst of training camp.
Already, Ben Sheppard has missed time with a calf strain and rookie Kam Jones — drafted 38th overall in June — will miss several more weeks.
“He has a thing with his back that’s just going to take some time,” head coach Rick Carlisle said earlier this week. So he’ll be out for at least two or three weeks.”
Then, the Pacers went to Minneapolis and pulled out an overtime win over the Timberwolves in their preseason debut, but they had two guards exit the game in the first half with injuries.