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.

Oct 09, 2025

Then-head coach Frank Vogel sharing instructions with the six members of this 2015 pre-draft workout, including Cam Payne (right).

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.

First, the indispensable T.J. McConnell suffered a left hamstring strain that will sideline him for at least a month, the team said. That suggests it was a Grade II tear.

The average time lost for a Grade I — a less severe strain — is about 13 days (or five games), according to athletic trainer Jeff Stotts, who has an impeccable database of NBA injuries at InStreetClothes.com.

The healing process occurs in multiple stages that begins with the inflammatory phase and includes the initial swelling and clotting reactions at the injury site. As the inflammatory phase progresses the second phase, the proliferative phase, will start. The proliferative phase is the beginning of the body’s actually repair work of the damaged tissue. Scar tissue is formed at the injury site as specialized cells begin repairing the strain using protein fibers, including collagen and elastin.
The proliferative phase requires a considerable amount of time but must be completed before the final phase, the remodeling phase, can begin.

Hamstrings are nasty injuries, mostly because they take a while to heal — and often linger. Most of what a player has to do is be patient and wait, which is easier said than done.

Haliburton suffered a left hamstring strain back on Jan. 4, 2024 against Boston — and it wasn’t fully right until after the offseason.

Then later in the first half on Tuesday, guard Delon Wright took a hit to the face at mid-court from Jaylen Clark and was bleeding in several areas, including above his right eye. Wright was treated, then walked off the court with assistance from Aaron Nesmith and members of the athletic training staff.

It turns out that Wright’s time with the Pacers was cut short. Less than two weeks after being signed, the team waived him. He was on an Exhibit 9 deal, per league sources, so it was a non-guaranteed deal.

“It just didn’t work out with Delon,” Carlisle said.

Wright later tweeted: “Thanks to everyone that prayed or sent get well wishes my way! Yes that was a brutal hit I took but, I am doing good just 10 stitches above my eye and 4 on my elbow.”

The day before, he tweeted: “Sick business.” And now we know why.

Before practice on Thursday, the team then signed Cam Payne — the 14th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft — to a training camp deal.

From 2015: Me and other members of the local media interview Cam Payne after his pre-draft workout at The Fieldhouse.

So, more than 10 years after Payne was brought in for a pre-draft workout, he’ll have an opportunity to fill a void at guard, at least in the short term.

That was back on May 18, 2015 — a group that also included former Pacers Joe Young and Rakeem Christmas, along with Jerian Grant, Olivier Hanlon, and Richaun Holmes. (This was also McConnell’s draft class.)

I know because I was there covering it — and now entering my 14th season on the beat.

Last season with New York, Payne averaged 6.9 points, and 2.8 assists per game playing about 15 minutes per game. He’s been training in New York, staying ready for an opportunity like this.

“He’s a guy we always had to account for in scouts,” said Carlisle. “It’s a great opportunity for him.”

What else does Carlisle like? “His speed, his long-range shooting ability is high level, he’s experienced, he knows the game, he has a good feel, and he’s a playmaker.”

This move comes exactly two weeks from the season opener on Oct. 23, giving Payne practice reps and three exhibition games to get acclimated. He’ll be needed to provide depth at point guard now that McConnell joins Haliburton, Sheppard, and Jones on the sidelines.

Two-way guards RayJ Dennis and rookie Taelon Peter played more minutes in the second half of their first tune-up game.

Pacers Depth At Point Guard

Andrew Nembhard
Cam Payne
Quenton Jackson (two-way)
RayJ Dennis (two-way)

Currently OUT

Tyrese Haliburton | season
T.J. McConnell | one month
Ben Sheppard | day-to-day
Kam Jones | several weeks

Fieldhouse Files with Scott Agness

Discussion about this post