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The Indiana Pacers have a highly intriguing 2025-26 season ahead of them. They just made a surprising run all the way into the NBA Finals in the previous season, but that also came at the expense of the health of their star point guard, Tyrese Haliburton. The former Iowa State Cyclones star suffered a torn Achilles injury in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Given the nature of his injury and the time it takes to recover from it, the Pacers confirmed in July that Haliburton will not see action for the entire 2025-26 season.
That's tough news for Indiana, but the Pacers will have to live through it and find a way to survive Haliburton's long absence.
Without Haliburton, there will be major adjustments and decisions Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle have to make in the backcourt.
Andrew Nembhard, who mostly started as the team's shooting guard last season, can be expected to take over as Indiana's starting point guard while Haliburton is out. Meanwhile, Carlisle recently revealed that Bennedict Mathurin will be the Pacers' starting shooting guard.
“I'll break the news right here. You know, I'm projecting him as our starter at two this year,” Carlisle said of Mathurin while speaking with Caitlin Cooper of Basketball, She Wrote.
“I think on day one, I told him this, I was on the phone with him and his agent four days ago. And I said,'You're gonna be with the starters on day one. It's your job to lose. But here's what we need from you.'
“But Ben Mathurin is going to get there. He's just, he has such great gifts as a scorer. And our job as coaches is to meld guys like him that aren't necessarily seamless fits into a style that is effective for the rest of the guys and bring both forces hopefully close together as time goes on.”
"I'm projecting him as our starter at 2 this year… I said, 'You're gonna be with the starters on Day 1. It's your job to lose.'"
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle on Benn Mathurin having a bigger role next season 👀
(via @C2_Cooper)pic.twitter.com/gwTh4TMWYj
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 5, 2025
Carlisle praised Mathurin's proven ability to score a bunch of points, but also implied that there are things left to learn and areas to improve on for the former Arizona Wildcats star. That said, Carlisle believes that Mathurin's passing and decision-making are going to “get there.”
Selected in the first round (sixth pick overall) of the 2022 NBA draft by the Pacers, Mathurin played 85 percent of his minutes as a small forward in the 2024-25 season, according to Basketball Reference.
