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On Sunday, the NBA crowned its seventh different champion in as many seasons with many wondering if the Thunder can be the team to pull off the now rare repeat due to their youth, depth, and currently inexpensive roster.
But one thing the Thunder have going for them: unlike other contenders, they’ve avoided the Achilles injury bug that has swept through the NBA this season–at least for now.
Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton exited the first quarter of Sunday’s Game 7 with an Achilles injury after playing through a calf strain. ESPN on Monday confirmed he tore his right Achilles tendon, which means he’s likely out for all of next season, drastically altering the team’s chances at a return trip to the Finals.
Haliburton’s Achilles injury joins Celtics star Jayson Tatum’s and Bucks guard Damian Lillard’s, both of whom are also likely all out for all of next season, impacting their own team’s title odds.
If Haliburton’s Achilles is ruptured, it would be the eighth injury of its kind during the current NBA season, according to Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes, a website that tracks player injuries. The previous season high was five during the 2014–15 year. The eight Achilles tears don’t include Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, who tore his in the offseason or Oklahoma’s Jalon Moore, who recently tore his during a predraft workout.
Haliburton would be the third Pacer to tear his Achilles in the same season, joining Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman, who tore theirs earlier in the season.
In short, the Eastern Conference is wide open, while its biggest stars all rehab their Achilles.
Once a potential career-ender for NBA players due to the tendon’s role in elevating their bodies, Achilles rehab has improved over the years, with most players returning within 10 months. Dominique Wilkins was the first notable player to come back from the injury, while Kevin Durant has become the modern face of its rehab.
But each player tore their Achilles at different phases of their respective careers. Lillard is 34 and at the tail end of his prime, while Tatum, 27, is in his, and Haliburton, 25, is about to enter his own.
All three players are owed a lot of money, too, which makes it hard for their teams to work around their injuries next season. Lillard is owed roughly $54 million next season with a player option for about $58 million for the 2026–27 season, which makes his contract among the most untradeable in the league. Given his age, he might not return as the same player from the injury, while Haliburton and Tatum have plenty of runway left to return to the All Stars they are. Lillard’s situation puts the Bucks in a difficult position as the team awaits word on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future with the organization. He’s yet to ask for a trade and could return given the current state of the eastern conference.
Tatum has the richest contract in NBA history with a five-year, $315 million extension he signed a year ago, which helps make the Celtics a nearly $500 million team next season, including luxury taxes. But the Celtics may hold off on breaking up their team given they still have the personnel to make another title run in a wide-open conference.
Then there’s Haliburton, whose $42 million salary was tied for the highest on a Pacers roster that has historically avoided the luxury tax and ranked just 18th among NBA teams payrolls. The Pacers plan to enter the luxury tax this summer to re-sign center Myles Turner and keep the Finals team intact.
Does Haliburton’s injury change their approach? The decision may have been made before he ever got hurt. During the Finals, the team traded its 2025 first-round pick to the Pelicans to acquire its first-round pick for 2026, thus taking a salary off its books for next season to help keep costs down.
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