Even after winning the 2026 NBA Championship, the New York Knicks may not have rid themselves entirely of Tyrese Haliburton — just yet. The entire Eastern Conference is gearing up for next season, with only a handful of teams projecting to field relatively uncompetitive rosters. The Indiana Pacers, however, are not one of them.
With Haliburton set to return fully healthy after tearing his Achilles during the 2025 NBA Finals, the Knicks can't afford to ignore that their rivals from Indiana were knocking on the door of a title just two years ago. The Pacers' roster features the championship-winning formula of having a top-10 player in Haliburton, a top-25 player in Pascal Siakam, and an impressive supporting cast.
The entire conference is shaping up to be a problem with regard to the Knicks' title defense — and their goals of becoming the first team in nine years to win back-to-back NBA Championships. Haliburton's injury certainly took the Pacers out of the running last season, but they're not a team New York should ignore next year. Brunson just proved why by winning Finals MVP after a postseason of making the right play at every turn.
NBA's new meta means the Knicks should still fear Haliburton (just a bit)
Even if they weren't the squad that ended the Knicks' 2023 and 2024 campaigns, Haliburton's specific skill of making the right decision (seemingly every time he has one to make) matches up perfectly with the traits of Jalen Brunson's that just ended a 53-year title drought.
In an era where teams have access to more data than ever about which shots to make, how often they'll make them, and how much to play each player, guys who simply make the right call more often than other players are becoming more valuable than ever.
As a result of all of that information, making the right decision is closer to a given than it's ever been before. That makes players' relative decision-making abilities, even if the edge seems small, crucial. And Haliburton isn't the Pacers' only natural playmaker, either.
Siakam has NBA Championship-winning experience from his time with the Toronto Raptors, and is likely still one of the league's 20-best players. According to Dunks & Threes, his offensive estimated plus-minus for the 2025-26 season was a +2.2, good enough to land in the 92nd percentile of all NBA players.
The Pacers still need to add some depth, whether via trade, free agency, or internal development, to have a roster commensurate with the Eastern Conference's top contenders on paper. They're much closer to reclaiming their status as championship contenders than fans seem to think, though. They can continue to ignore Haliburton's squad at their own peril.
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