Pacers notebook: Garrison Mathews signs, trade seasons approaches, and practice time arrives

INDIANAPOLIS – Welcome back to the St. Vincent Center, where the Pacers were able to practice twice this week thanks to a mini break provided by the NBA Cup. If my memory isn't failing me, the Pacers had practiced formally just once in Indianapolis since the start of the regular season. This week is a good reset for every team, including the blue and gold.

Last year, this stretch of time helped the Pacers turn their season around. From the cup stoppage until the end of the regular season, the Pacers went 40-17. It was one of the best marks in the league, and the team used that surge to host their first-round playoff series before reaching the NBA Finals. You know the rest.

This year, things are different. Tyrese Haliburton is injured, as are many other Pacers. But this week has still been eventful for the Pacers on the court and off of it. Before they head out to Philadelphia to resume play over the weekend, there is a ton to catch up on.

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The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, up close

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On the court: Kam Jones and Quenton Jackson

Quenton Jackson is back on the floor, both for practice and (G League) game action. He's listed as questionable for Pacers vs 76ers and could make his return after being out for over a month with a right hamstring strain.

He's been scrimmaging for much of the last week and even got work in with basketball interns in Chicago before Pacers-Bulls over the weekend. His return to NBA action will come soon.

On Thursday night, he played for the Noblesville Boom for the first time. Jackson, who is flying to Philadelphia to join the Pacers on Friday, had a restriction of just 15 minutes and only suited up in the first half for the Boom as they took on the Wisconsin Herd.

With his first possession, Jackson turned the corner and took a mid-range jumper. It didn't fall, and it became clear quickly that Jackson was trying to get his rhythm back. He attempted, and missed, four shots in the first 2.5 minutes of action.

He did, however, find fellow Pacers two-way signee Taelon Peter for a pair of early assists before heading to the bench. Stint two for Jackson came later in the quarter and was much better than the first one.

The four-year pro drove to the cup and scored, then stole the ball from Wisconsin a few possessions later. Of the offensive trip he earned, Jackson hit a pull-up three for his first made jumper of the game.

The Boom, collectively, went crazy in the second quarter and outscored the Herd 33-15 to break the game open. That was the final period Jackson played in as he finished with 14 points and five assists in 15 minutes of play.

"He'll join us in Philadelphia with a possibility of playing tomorrow if needed," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said Thursday. "Just need as many healthy bodies as we can get. And he's a very good player. When he last played, he had a few really good games." Jackson is averaging 11.8 points and 3.6 assists per game this season for the Pacers.

As an aside from this notebook (only sorta), Boom vs Herd was an eventful game. Jackson, of course, was the headliner. Peter had his best G League game so far, finishing with 24 points and shooting over 50% for the first time. On Wisconsin's side, former Pacers star Victor Oladipo had 21 points in 30 minutes while Stevie Thompson Jr, the older brother of new Pacers two-way guard Ethan Thompson, scored nine points in 22 minutes. That could have been a fun family reunion, but Ethan is with the Pacers and has become too important for a G League stint right now.

Back to the Pacers and recovering guards: Kam Jones was on the hardwood this week. He took part in a four-on-four scrimmage after practice on Thursday and was getting some work in on Wednesday working on his drives and finishing.

Jones has yet to play this season thanks to a stress reaction in his lower back but has mostly recovered from that injury. The next phase of his return to play plan is about conditioning.

"He did non-contact stuff today. He's getting there. I would think sooner than later, he'll be back out there bangin," Carlisle said of Jones on Sunday. "He's making progress. He was in a lot of the non-contact stuff [on] offense and defense today. So I know he's very anxious, very excited to be back on the floor and feeling 100% finally."

I would expect Jones' first game back to be with the Boom. He'll certainly be one to watch the rest of the season given the Pacers point guard outlook and current record.

Garrison Mathews gets Jeremiah Robinson-Earl's roster spot

On Thursday, as I reported here, the Pacers waived Jeremiah Robinson-Earl in order to create a roster spot and sign Garrison Mathews. Mathews second 10-day contract with the Pacers expired on Thursday, and he wasn't eligible for another one – given Jones' recovery timeline, it's unclear if the Pacers will even be granted another hardship deal.

This is one of those moves that could have gone either way. Robinson-Earl and Mathews are both depth pieces that almost certainly wouldn't be in the rotation for the fully-healthy Pacers, so this was about who can help more when called upon. Robinson-Earl is younger, better on the glass, and a more capable defender. Mathews is a way, way better shooter.

I can't fault the Pacers, who rank 29th in three-point percentage this season, for choosing the shooter. Mathews has struggled from deep for the Pacers this year, but there was about an even split in effectiveness between his first 10-day deal (15.4% from deep) and his second (46.7%). His entire career of work suggests the second number, albeit slightly high, is closer to what can be expected.

Mathews himself admitted that he was surprised to get a second 10-day deal after how he played on the first one. Fans were equally surprised at the time and had many questions. But after Mathews showed his stuff in December, this move is totally justifiable by the Pacers. Watch the first Pacers-Bulls game, one in which Mathews didn't even make a shot, and spot how afraid Chicago was of Mathews. His gravity is legit. Even with subpar shooting, his offensive on-off numbers are even.

Another factor here: Ethan Tompson emerged and... basically showed the same strengths as Robinson-Earl. If the Pacers wanted a mid-20s, hard-playing wing that can rebound from the perimeter and defend, they have one. They also have a shooter now, too. "Shooting is a big thing in the league. If you have a shooter out there, it always helps," Pascal Siakam said of Mathews. "Just want him to feel comfortable, and it takes time to feel comfortable. I think he's getting the hang of it. We just hope that he can continue to make a lot more shots for us."

What this week of practice was about

Is it reasonable to expect the Pacers to win better than 70% of their games after the NBA Cup break like last season? No, but this week does feel oddly familiar.

Practice time coming after the Pacers start to look a little bit better. Good health news arriving. Some slight roster tweaks (the Thomas Bryant trade was almost exactly one year ago). This is close to what 2024-25 was like, albeit with different overall circumstances.

"Obviously, I think the starts of the season were a little different than last year," T.J. McConnell said. "I think practices like these and the practice tomorrow is so beneficial... it's just something where we can fine tune the stuff that we need to."

The Pacers have won four of their last six games, albeit against a pretty soft schedule. We'll learn more about their actual current level of play in the next two weeks. But this practice time could help improve some of the weaker elements of their game. Last year, the team dramatically improved defensively around this time of year, and their offensive became more consistent.

"It's important practice time. It's an opportunity to address things that we need to address. A lot of things are basic things. Making sure that we are completely committed to our habits, things that we have standards for both offensively and defensively. It's a bit rare," Carlisle said of having consecutive days of practice time. "We've got to use it to the best of our ability."

These are the first real practices for Thompson since signing with the Pacers. He's become a starter already. Mathews finds himself in a similar scenario. Those two stand to gain the most from these tune-up sessions, but improvement for anyone helps everyone. Plus, with many players having dealt with muscle injuries this season, some time without games is meaningful.

"Practice time was helpful. We were also starting to get healthier... that was important. And the practice time was important," Carlisle recalled of this time period last season. Sounds familiar.

Tyrese Haliburton provides the latest on his recovery

I did no work to get this information, so big ups to Amazon Prime for hiring Tyrese Haliburton to be a part of their NBA Nightcap broadcasts five times this season. He's going to talk about his recovery there.

He did so Tuesday night after the Eastern Conference NBA Cup games. "I'm basically doing everything outside of contact right now. Hopefully, the goal is by the end of the month, I can start playing one-on-one," Haliburton said. "It feels like it's been a long journey. But we're getting there, day by day."

Haliburton is approaching six months since his torn achilles and, as he noted on the Prime Video broadcast, just passed the six month mark for the initial calf injury. He's been in good spirits of late and even shared a video on his own social media feeds in which he dunked jumping off of one leg – importantly, it was his injured right leg.

I also caught him shooting during a timeout in Gainbridge Fieldhouse last week. It has to be killing him to not play. But he's on the path back.

Trade rumors, welcome

December 15th, the unofficial start of trade season, approaches. As mentioned above, the Pacers traded for Thomas Bryant on December 15th last year – the first day Bryant could be dealt.

As is natural, the rumor mill has started to churn. The Pacers needed point guards early in the season and want a starting center now. This season, they'll have one of the weirdest trade deadline outlooks I can recall – I'll write more about that in the future as the Pacers season outlook and direction becomes more clear.

For now, here are the rumored players (from credible insiders) that the Pacers have been connected to:

1. Jose Alvarado, via Jake Fischer in The Stein Line
2. Keon Ellis, via Michael Scotto in HoopsHype
3. Daniel Gafford, via Jake Fischer in The Stein Line

I will put this list in more stories in the future. Other, less connected but still reliable, reporters have the Pacers tied to various talents. Please, please research the source on every report to verify if it's someone who should or shouldn't be trusted. Silly season is full of nonsense.

What isn't nonsense: the Pacers approach to their time off this week. They'll try to hit the ground running with two games this weekend. Then, another gap in the schedule next week to keep fine tuning. We'll have much to discuss then, too.

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