The Indiana Pacers had the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first half, but a Darius Garland-led outburst in the fourth quarter allowed the Cavaliers to pull away with a close win on the road, 120–116. As a result, the Pacers suffered a franchise-record 13 straight losses.
While they’re already the worst team in the league and would probably stay that way until March, having one terrible season without Tyrese Haliburton may not be too bad after all. And that’s partly because of a genius move they made in the middle of the 2025 NBA Finals: a trade that just might put them in a better position moving forward.
Winless for Nearly a Month Now
Indiana has become the punching bag in the East in the past month after losing their last 13 games. The Pacers have been so bad that the last time they pulled out a dub was back on December 9, 2025, against the Sacramento Kings.
After losing to the Cavs on January 7, the Pacers are now at the rock bottom of the league with a 6–31 record, their worst mark in franchise history. On top of that, their 13-game losing streak is also another franchise record. In no uncertain terms, losing Haliburton was definitely a devastating setback for the same squad that went seven games against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals last year. Their situation was made even worse after Myles Turner chose to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks in the summer.
But there’s a silver lining, believe it or not.
Fortunately for the Pacers, being dead last in the standings and possibly having the worst record in the league could actually help them in the future.
The NBA Finals Trade That Could Make or Break the Pacers Next Year
Just days before Haliburton tore his Achilles in Game 7, the Pacers’ front office green-lit a rare mid-Finals trade that sent their 2025 first-round pick (No. 23) and Mojave King to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for a 2026 draft pick, a selection they once owned but used as leverage to acquire Pascal Siakam in January 2024.
The pick? A top-4 protected first-rounder.
This high-value pick can potentially become No. 1 if the lottery balls favor Indiana, which means they could draft prospects like BYU standout AJ Dybantsa, Kentucky marvel Darryn Peterson, or Cameron Boozer, the son of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer. Even if Indiana doesn’t land the top overall pick, it could still get its hands on a difference-maker with the available talent expected to declare for the 2026 NBA Draft. Among these other prospects are Tennessee’s Nate Ament, North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson, and the NBL’s Karim Lopez.
But to secure the pick, the Pacers must continue being terrible because if they fall out of the bottom four, the pick automatically returns to the Pelicans. Therefore, for the Pacers, the more they lose, the more they actually gain by increasing their chances of landing in the bottom four of the lottery.
That means the Pacers don’t have to compete right now if they choose to go down that route. Then, should the ping-pong balls go their way, they could be parading an additional weapon in the form of a top-4 pick when Haliburton returns next season.
