Indiana Pacers forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, front, pulls in a rebound in front of Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson in the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers have re-signed forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to another 10-day contract, the team announced on Tuesday. The Pacers were granted a hardship exception, which allowed them to give Robinson-Earl a 10-day deal.
It’s the second 10-day agreement for Robinson-Earl with Indiana this season. He originally signed a contract via the hardship exception on November 1, and that deal expired when Monday ended. But the blue and gold are still battling numerous injuries, so they were able to get another hardship exception and keep Robinson-Earl around a little longer.
Currently, the Pacers are without Tyrese Haliburton, Johnny Furphy, Obi Toppin, Quenton Jackson (two-way), Bennedict Mathurin, and Kam Jones due to injury – and T.J. McConnell has not played yet this season, but he’s back tonight. The number of injuries the Pacers have is what allows them to apply for a hardship deal – two-way players don’t count toward hardship exceptions, but if four players have missed three-plus games in a row and will continue to be out for a team that has a full 15-man roster, a hardship exemption can be granted.
All of Haliburton, Furphy, Toppin, Mathurin, and Jones have missed three consecutive games and have been a part of the Pacers being eligible for hardship deals – Cody Martin is also on the Pacers roster via this type of contract and is currently signed to a 10-day deal.
Furphy’s third missed game since suffering an ankle injury was on Sunday, the Pacers most recent game. That timing played a role in the team being able to retain Robinson-Earl for 10 more days, though the team certainly misses Furphy for both skill and development reasons.
Why did the Pacers retain Jeremiah Robinson-Earl?
Robinson-Earl has filled in capably. So far, he is averaging 5.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game for the blue and gold, including two double-digit rebound games. His defense has been useful, too, as the Pacers continue to lose healthy players at the power forward and wing positions.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOV 9: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl of Pacers warms up before the NBA game 5 between Indiana Pacers and Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on November 9, 2025 in San Francisco, California, United States. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Anadolu via Getty Images
“We have a system, we have schemes, concepts, things that we want to do. But at the end of the day, it’s basketball,” Robinson-Earl said of fitting in with a team and picking things up quickly. “We have to compete at the highest level. Being in these situations, you can’t make excuses. You’ve just got to learn on the fly and do the best you can with the circumstances.”
He’s played 17.4 minutes per game, a big number for a player that wasn’t even on the team on opening night. But the Pacers have needed him, and outside of hitting shots he has produced. Like the rest of the Pacers, though, Robinson-Earl has been inaccurate from the field – just 32.3% of his field goal attempts have dropped so far.
But his work on the boards, lack of turnovers, and general know-how are still valuable. He’s played well enough that the Pacers are opting to start him later tonight in their game against the Utah Jazz on the road.
“Definitely a tough situation we’re in with the circumstances of personnel and everything,” Robinson-Earl said last week of the Pacers situation. “We’ve got a bunch of new guys here just trying to figure out the system.”
Robinson-Earl’s cap hit on his 10-day deal will be just under $132k. Across his two contracts, he’ll be on the Pacers books for a shade under double that at $264k. Between his signing, Martin’s, an earlier waiver of James Wiseman to sign Mac McClung, and then waiving McClung to sign Monte Morris, Indiana has made several moves to combat their injury reality. They’re now just about $5 million shy of the luxury tax line.
Robinson-Earl is in his fifth NBA season and has averaged 6.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game in his career. He’s played five games for the Pacers so far.