It's been a rough offseason so far for the Indiana Pacers, who watched Myles Turner bolt for the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency and also received confirmation that Tyrese Haliburton will be out for the entirety of the upcoming 2026-27 NBA season. Still, that shouldn't overshadow the truly magical run that the Pacers were able to make all the way to Game 7 of the NBA Finals this past spring.
One person who couldn't help but throw a little bit of shade at his former team was none other than ex-Pacers point guard and Indianapolis native Jeff Teague, who recently took to his own Club 520 podcast with thoughts on the Pacers' unorthodox championship-contending roster.
“One of the worst finals teams in NBA history. What does that say about the rest of the league? … One of the worst rosters in NBA history to make the finals,” said Teague, per Hoopshype.
A strange statement
While it's true that the Pacers don't have the top-end talent of other championship contenders throughout NBA history, perhaps Teague's comments speak more about his unfamiliarity with the way the modern NBA works than they do any shortcomings on Indiana's part.
In some ways it's understandable that Teague would still believe that teams need to stack superstar talent in order to be competitive in the playoffs–after all, he spent the prime years of his career getting swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers for three consecutive years from 2015 to 2017.
However, in the modern NBA, “Big Threes” aren't nearly as effective, as Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns recently found out, and success is much more reliant upon depth, continuity, and an overall team system, all of which the Pacers had in spades this past year.
While Indiana wasn't quite able to get over the hump in Game 7, there's no telling how things may have fared differently had Tyrese Haliburton not gone down with injury just minutes into the game, and after a red-hot start.
In any case, this year for the Pacers figures to be all about figuring out ways that they can hit the ground running once Haliburton returns in 2026-27.
