MINNEAPOLIS -- The injury-ravaged Indiana Pacers ruled out leading scorer Bennedict Mathurin ahead of their game at Minnesota on Sunday night, leaving the defending Eastern Conference champions with seven unavailable players on the roster. Another key reserve, Obi Toppin, hurt his right hamstring in the third quarter during the 114-110 defeat by the Timberwolves. Coach Rick Carlisle said afterward Toppin would get an MRI exam for further evaluation but hoped the injury wasn't severe.
The Indiana Pacers are signing guard Mac McClung to a multiyear contract, Greg Lawrence of Wasserman told ESPN on Monday. The deal marks the first standard NBA contract for McClung after the dunk contest's first three-peat champion spent time in camps and on two-way deals since 2021. McClung, who most recently was with the Orlando Magic, has appeared in six games in the NBA.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin will undergo surgery to repair a partial stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal in his right foot, the team announced Friday. "Probably not recommend talking about this again until probably February 1 [in] three months," coach Rick Carlisle said before the Pacers played the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. "That's his situation." According to Carlisle, Toppin will have surgery Monday in New York to place a screw in his foot.
Indiana Pacers backup point guard T.J. McConnell will miss at least a month due to a hamstring injury he suffered in Indiana's first preseason game, coach Rick Carlisle said Thursday. "Not as bad as it could have been but it's going to take some time," Carlisle said. McConnell sustained his injury during Tuesday night's preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
THERE ARE THREE new banners hanging above the main court inside the Indiana Paces training facility, across the street from the team's arena, Gainbridge Fieldhouse. On one end there are retired jersey numbers, Reggie Miller's 31 and Mel Daniels' 34, and a banner each for Herb Simon, the team's governor since 1983 who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year,
Free agent guard Monte Morris has agreed to a 1-year deal with the Indiana Pacers, his agents, Andy Shiffman and Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told ESPN's Shams Charania on Tuesday. Entering his ninth NBA season, Morris provides backcourt depth to the Pacers, who will be without star guard Tyrese Haliburton for the entire season because of a ruptured Achilles tendon. The 30-year-old Morris spent last season with the Phoenix Suns on a one-year, $2.8 million deal.
Well, fast forward to September, and here we are with intriguing news courtesy of ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania. He reported that the NBA would once again be tweaking its All-Star Game format, as the new weekend showcase is " likely to feature a round-robin tournament consisting three eight-player squads of two USA teams and one World team," as Charania noted in an X post.