Browsing: Nesmith

Nov 15, 2025, 07:56 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said that Aaron Nesmith will miss at least a month with a left knee injury.

The forward was hurt in the Pacers’ loss at Phoenix on Thursday.

“It’s likely going to be at least four weeks,” Carlisle said before Saturday’s home game against Toronto. “Talk to me on [December] the 15th. But it’s very good news — very, very good news. He’s not in a brace. He’s walking. I say it’s likely going to be four weeks. That doesn’t mean it couldn’t be less. It’s unclear at this time. But he’s doing very well, and the news was very, very good.”

The Pacers are already without six players. All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton was lost for the season to a torn Achilles tendon suffered in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Forward Bennedict Mathurin scored 31 points in two games before being sidelined by a toe injury. Shooting guard Andrew Nembhard just returned after missing six games with a shoulder injury.

Top reserve Obi Toppin was averaging 14 points in three games before going down with a stress fracture in his right foot.

Nesmith was averaging a career-best 15.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 11 games. He scored a career-high 31 points in the Pacers’ only win against Golden State on Nov. 1. The Pacers began the night 1-11.

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Aaron Nesmith was a key part of the Indiana Pacers’ run to the NBA Finals last season, and the team is rewarding him accordingly heading into the 2025-26 campaign.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that Indiana agreed to a two-year, $40.4 million extension with the forward that keeps him with the team through the 2028-29 season. The deal includes a trade kicker and features the maximum amount of salary that was allowed with the extension.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks added more context:

Indiana acquired Nesmith via trade from the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2022-23 season, and he immediately played his way into the rotation after he was nothing more than a secondary contributor during his first two years in the league.

Across three seasons with the Pacers, he has averaged 11.3 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from deep.

His ability to stretch opposing defenses and connect from deep has been an ideal pairing with Tyrese Haliburton, who is always looking to facilitate and set his teammates up for good looks when opposing defenses collapse on his penetration.

Nesmith became something of a household name during the Pacers’ stunning run to the NBA Finals last season.Â

His biggest individual moment came during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals when he caught fire from beyond the arc and spearheaded a dramatic comeback win over the New York Knicks. He finished with 30 points on 8-of-9 shooting from three-point range and set the tone for a series in which he connected on 53.3 percent of his triples.

In addition to his shooting in the postseason, he played lockdown defense against multiple positions. His ability to stick with smaller ball-handlers or challenge bigger forwards on the wings allowed the Pacers to mix and match their lineups depending on the opponent in different rounds.

Nesmith figures to be even more important for the team in 2025-26 with Haliburton sidelined with an Achilles injury, and he will assume those additional responsibilities with a new contract extension in his pocket.

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