INDIANAPOLIS – Starting at 6 p.m., Monday, NBA teams can begin negotiating with other team’s upcoming free agents and can officially sign them July 6.

The Indiana Pacers did not expect to have a long list of roster decisions planned for the offseason, but any plans they did have likely had to be seriously reassessed following Tyrese Haliburton’s devastating Achilles injury in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Team president Kevin Pritchard and general manager Chad Buchanan declined season exit interviews following the Finals defeat and didn’t speak to media following last week’s NBA draft, so there’s no fresh intel from them.

NBA free agency begins today: Explaining salary cap, luxury tax and aprons

Indiana answered one question in the draft after acquiring a higher second-round pick and selecting Marquette’s Kam Jones at No. 38. He’s poised to be the team’s third point guard behind Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell while Haliburton will likely miss the entire 2025-26 season. He provides enough positional versatility to play the 2 when Haliburton presumably returns in 2026-27.

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11:07 a.m., Tuesday: Myles Turner leaving Pacers for Bucks

Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, Myles Turner is leaving the Pacers for the first time in his 10-year career. Charania said that Turner was in agreement with the Milwaukee Bucks on a four-year, $107 million contract with a player option in Year 4 and a 15% trade kicker.

5 p.m., Monday: Nick Richards on Pacers radar as trade option?

Per HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto, Phoenix Suns center Nick Richards is of interest to the Pacers on the trade market. Richards became available following the Suns draft day moves of adding Mark Williams via trade and Duke‘s Khaman Maluach with the No. 10 pick.

Richards, 27, has a $5 million non-guaranteed salary for the 2025-26 season expected to be guaranteed by the Suns, which will give the team the ability to trade him.

Along with the Pacers, Scotto lists the Knicks and Lakers as potential trade suitors for Richards.

The 7-footer averaged 9.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks, while shooting 59% from the field. He started 43 of 57 games between the Hornets and Suns this past season.

9 a.m., Monday: DeAndre Ayton set to test market

Center DeAndre Ayton is finalizing a buyout agreement with the Portland Trail Blazers, according to ESPN, which will make him a free agent — and one of the more interesting players available.

In 2022, the Pacers signed Ayton ― then a restricted free agent ― to a four-year, $133 million offer sheet. Later that day, the Suns matched it.

“The shift in free agency brought a lot of uncertainty through the whole process,” Ayton said in 2022. “I got to give a lot of respect to the Pacers organization. They were aggressive from the start and showing a lot of love. And we agreed to a max offer sheet. The Suns matched. Now, I’m back in Phoenix as a Sun.”

Ayton was acquired by the Blazers in 2023 as part of a three-team trade with Phoenix and Milwaukee. He’s played in only 95 games in two seasons with Portland, averaging 15.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game. As part of the contract he signed with the Suns, Ayton was scheduled to make $35.6 million next season.

3:30 p.m., Sunday: Pacers pick up Tony Bradley’s option

The Pacers exercised Tony Bradley’s option for next season at $2.94 million non-guaranteed. Bradley, who the team signed to two 10-day contracts before signing him full-time in March, had a club option for a second season.

Bradley fills one of the presumably two backup big man spots available this offseason. He played in 14 regular season games, averaging 8.1 minutes, 4.4 points and 3.0 rebounds.

He had useful bursts in the playoffs when the Pacers struggled rebounding against Mitchell Robinson and the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals and Isaiah Hartenstein and the Thunder in the NBA Finals. In 11 playoff games, he had 21 rebounds and 17 points.

The Pacers also made qualifying offers to Isaiah Jackson, Enrique Freeman and Quenton Jackson, making them restricted free agents.

What’s the latest on re-signing Myles Turner?

Prior to Haliburton’s injury, all signs indicated the Pacers were looking to re-sign Turner, their longest-tenured player. Rick Carlisle said the Pacers consider signing Turner to be the franchise’s No. 1 offseason priority. Doing so would put Indiana into the luxury tax for the first time in 20 years. Turner is likely to command about $30 million on the open market after making $19.9 million this season. 

Haliburton’s injury may force the Pacers to reconsider if they are willing to go into the tax for a team likely to have a lower ceiling than it would have with Haliburton healthy.

Other big men have already cashed in this summer. Minnesota is giving Naz Reid a five-year $125 million deal. Dallas gave Daniel Gafford a three-year $60 million extension.

What do Pacers do with Bennedict Mathurin?

Mathurin is eligible for a rookie-scale contract extension as he heads into the fourth and final season of his initial deal.

Haliburton’s injury provides Mathurin with the bigger role he’s craved, it also complicates his extension talks. He will likely start at the 2 and provide the Pacers a scoring punch, letting him play more to his strengths. But the team’s long-term vision is still based around Haliburton and it will still take work to smooth off Mathurin’s edges to fit that vision.

He has a chance to put up big numbers in a potential walk year which could mean a big free agent offer on the open market, so it might not make sense for him to sign an extension, if one is offered.

The Pacers could also decide to move Mathurin for a more reliable scoring guard who fits better with Haliburton and the Pacers’ long-term plans. The Pacers might have to package him with another player to make the money work, as his cap hit is just $9.2 million.

Is that player to trade Obi Toppin?

A locker room and fan favorite, Toppin is due to make $14 million next season. There’s been nothing concrete in regards to a Toppin trade, but his name has been circulating as a logical option if the Pacers are looking to shed some salary and could package Toppin, perhaps with Mathurin and their newly reacquired 2026 first round pick, for a veteran scoring guard or wing on a short-term rental or maybe even another long-armed wing for a multi-positional defender for when Haliburton returns. 

Moving Toppin would give the Pacers some financially flexibility and would signal they think Jarace Walker is ready to step into a bigger role.

What do Pacers do for backup bigs?

Even if the Pacers re-sign Turner, they still have plenty of questions in the frontcourt. Primarily, who do they bring back — if anyone — as post depth?

On Sunday, they picked up Tony Bradley’s second-year option to bring him back.

Isaiah Jackson is coming off an Achilles injury of his own suffered on opening night and is a restricted free agent. James Wiseman, who was signed prior to last season, suffered an Achilles injury the same week and missed the entire season. He was traded to Toronto, then cut, but has been working out with the Pacers since.

With Jackson and Wiseman both out, the Pacers traded for Thomas Bryant, who is now an unrestricted free agent and signed Bradley to two 10-day contracts before signing him to a full-time deal.

They can keep two for the league minimum, but they can also go shopping for someone else of a similar caliber. Among the affordable veteran centers set to hit free agency are Kevon Looney, Mason Plumlee, Jaxson Hayes and Paul Reed. This season taught the Pacers they’ll need at least two of them.

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