Pacers sign draft pick Taelon Peter to two-way deal
Liberty standout Taelon Peter joins Quenton Jackson and RayJ Dennis on two-way deals as the Pacers build backcourt depth without Tyrese Haliburton.
The Indiana Pacers signed rookie Taelon Peter to a two-way contract on Thursday, the team announced. The team selected the 23-year-old guard out of Liberty University with the 54th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
That means Peter will split time with the Pacers and their G League affiliate, the Noblesville Boom (formerly the Mad Ants). He’s one of three players on a two-way contract, along with Quenton Jackson and RayJ Dennis.
A two-way salary ($636,435) is for half of the rookie minimum.
Notably, all three players on two-way deals with the Pacers are guards. That helps to provide depth at a position where they will be without Tyrese Haliburton for all of next season as he rehabs from Achilles tendon surgery. And thus more will be thrust upon the shoulders of Andrew Nembhard, who will take on more ball-handling responsibilities.
Leading up to signing Peter, the Pacers renounced their qualifying offer for forward Enrique Freeman — who was on a two-way contract last season. He produced at Summer League, once again, and had other teams inquiring about his availability.
Ultimately, the Pacers elected to sign Peter. So Freeman moves on.
Peter is a 6-foot-4 guard with high-jumping athleticism. He was one of a dozen players or so that the team brought to Indy for a pre-draft workout. On draft night, he was surrounded by family at his grandma’s house.
“I knew I did everything that I could to get that opportunity, so I thought I put my best foot forward so I might have an opportunity,” he said after getting selected. “But even if not, everybody there had the expectation of not getting drafted, so it was going to be cool either way.”
Peter shined during his visit to Indy and made a memorable impression.
The Pistons, Spurs, and Bucks were three other teams interested in Peter, Tom Crean mentioned on an ESPN telecast at Summer League. He went on to share that Peter went 9 for 12 from 3-point range during half-court live action at his Pacers workout.
“I think he became a priority draft pick after that,” Crean said.
Playing in four of five games in Las Vegas, Peter averaged 9.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Like fellow rookie Kam Jones, his performances (and confidence) improved in time at Summer League.
“I'm a winner,” Peter said. “I do whatever the team needs to win, but I'm an energy guy. I'm a spark plug.
“I can make 3s on the move, catch and shoot, and I'm a sneaky athlete. So if anybody wants to meet me there, I don't know what'll happen. But I can get up a little bit.”
He comes to the Pacers after being an incredibly efficient 3-point shooter at Liberty, where he converted on 45.3% of shots from distance.
“We knew he could shoot the ball really well,” said Summer League coach Isaac Yacob. “Just how he moves, athletically, he's a really underrated athlete. And as a person, he comes in willing to do whatever you ask and whenever you want. If you say come at 5 a.m., he's over here at 5 a.m. He wants to put the work in and really, really work, make it in this NBA.”
And unlike at Liberty, Peter’s third college stop after Tennessee Tech and Arkansas Tech, he won’t be asked to do a lot right away. He’s afforded time and space to be able to learn from a group that just reached Game 7 of the NBA Finals. The Pacers are a collection of players, competitors, and men who have been underappreciated.
All they did was keep proving others were wrong.
Peter, too, fits that archetype.
“It's always great to be on a winning team,” he said. “A team that doesn't need you to come in and change the whole franchise is something that's better than to go into a place that needs and expects you to change the whole thing.
“Being able to come in here with guys who are on the up and learn from them, learn their habits, learn what they do to win and be successful — and have time to settle in and adapt to what they're doing here is a blessing.”
Pacers Depth Chart
PG: Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell, Tyrese Haliburton
SG: Bennedict Mathurin, Ben Sheppard, Kam Jones
SF: Aaron Nesmith, Jarace Walker, Johnny Furphy
PF: Pascal Siakam, Obi Toppin
C: Isaiah Jackson, James Wiseman, Jay Huff, Tony Bradley
Two-ways: Jackson, Dennis, Peter