INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – JUNE 19: Jarace Walker of Pacers warms up before the NBA Finals game 6 between Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 19, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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INDIANAPOLIS – As the Indiana Pacers were celebrating their Game 6 win over the New York Knicks and a trip to the NBA Finals last season, one player stood out emotionally. While he was rejoicing and smiling just like the rest of his teammates, Jarace Walker kept glancing at the ground and had to move at a different pace than his teammates. He was on crutches, having just suffered an ankle sprain during the game.
It turned out to be a severe injury, it kept Walker out until late August. That, of course, meant that Walker missed the NBA Finals and didn’t get to play on the biggest stage there is in basketball. He had to sit, watch, and heal while his teammates battled the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“Undescribable. It’s tough. I mean, you work all summer, 82 games, three series, and then you get there and then it’s taken away,” Walker said of his emotions sitting out the Finals. “But it grows you, it matures you. I feel like it made me a better person. I learned a lot through that process.”
Many things in Walker’s career have forced him to mature in a similar manner. He was a top-10 pick for Indiana in 2023, and typically someone drafted that high would enter the league with at least some minutes coming their way. But the Pacers were already really good, a rarity for a team picking in the single digits – they made the Eastern Conference Finals in Walker’s first season. And they added Obi Toppin as well as Pascal Siakam within seven months of the 2023 draft, so the power forward position became crowded.
Walker didn’t play much. He had to watch and learn, then spent two seasons going through sporadic G League assignments. He welcomed them for a chance to play, though he did appear in 75 games during the most recent NBA season and averaged 15.8 minutes per game. Still, his first two seasons, from unique playing situations to Finals injury etc, have forced Walker to grow up fast, and sitting out to close last season reshaped his feelings on basketball again.
“Oh, yeah, definitely the appreciation factor. I’m not saying I wasn’t appreciative, but just every opportunity I’m able to work out, get a lift in, practice, it means a lot more to me now than it did before just knowing that in an instant it can be taken away,” Walker said of how missing games on the biggest stage changed things for him. He has a more optimistic view on training camp now and his opportunities to improve. “So, I mean, every day is a blessing.”
What will be different for Jarace Walker in season three with the Pacers?
He enters year three confident and ready. Walker’s self assurance and personality have shined in his conversations with teammates and media members this week, and he’s been a common answer from other Pacers players when they’re asked who is standing out in training camp. The 22-year old forward has real experience now, and it shows.
This is the first time in Walker’s career that he begins the season with a clear role coming his way. During his rookie campaign, the Houston product played in just five of Indiana’s first 21 games. Last season, he received less than 10 minutes of action in the Pacers early, competitive action – that only changed when Aaron Nesmith went down with an ankle injury in the team’s sixth outing. Walker became an every-night player at that point, but even he admitted his performance was up-and-down to start the 2024-25 season.
This time, Walker has a spot that is his to lose. With Tyrese Haliburton out for the season and Bennedict Mathurin promoted from the bench to the starting five, Indiana has a clear opening among their reserve wings. Barring Walker getting drastically outplayed by someone else during preseason and training camp, he should be a factor in the Pacers opening-night rotation for the first time of his career.
For his minutes to be a success, the blue and gold hope to see Walker playing with force. That’s been a theme for him throughout his career, but it has evolved in meaning. At first, it was about 48 minutes of hard play. It became about rebounding and defense at other moments, then decisiveness in between. For someone that was likened to a linebacker by general manager Chad Buchanan when drafted, Walker would level up by playing with some muscle.
Indiana Pacers forward Jarace Walker (5) poses for a photo during the NBA basketball team’s media day in Indianapolis, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
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Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has been impressed with Walker’s conditioning level early in training camp, especially given how recently he recovered from his ankle injury. Carlisle explained that the young forward won the team’s one-on-one competition on the first day of practices.
Walker’s confidence and maturity have been noticed by his head coach. “You know, he was so young when he came in, just one year in college, and so the first year you (Walker) have expectations,” Carlisle said. “It’s difficult being a top-10 pick. You feel like you’re supposed to just go in there and be an impact guy. In our situation, his position was pretty crowded, so it took time. He’s learned, and he’s worked extremely hard. And he’s positioned himself to be a major factor on this team.”
Being that major factor could come in many ways for Walker. When drafted, most assumed his defense – which was terrific in the NCAA ranks – would be his better side of the ball. But a developing jumper and inconsistent play on the less glamorous end of the floor has so far made Walker a better offensive player than defensive weapon in his career so far.
This season, there is hope that could flip. Walker’s stated goals for his areas of improvement are defense, running, and rebounding – three things that will go a long way toward helping the Pacers be the team they want to be this year. Those traits would fit anywhere, but they’d be particularly additive in Indiana’s style.
To do that, Walker wants to be assertive and not second guess himself. Veteran forward Pascal Siakam has been working with him on various skills to help his speed, and for Walker some of that requires being ready for his next move before the ball even comes his way.
“I would say just my drives to the basket, the straight-line drives. Just being assertive, not second-guessing anything, just playing my game,” Walker said of his offensive hopes for year three when asked about applying more force on that end of the floor.
Yet even when asked more about offense, his words transitioned to talking about defense and rebounding. He’s got the size for it, and he’ll be a needed wing defender on Indiana’s second unit. Walker has the size to be a strong deterrent against bigger forwards, something Indiana is missing defensively.
“I would just say being more physical, fighting through screens, bumping on cuts, bumping on drives, just being more hands-on, more physical,” Walker said of his hopeful defensive growth. “And I feel like that’s a better way to get engaged in the game as well.”
He’s saying all the right things and acting like a more mature and prepared player heading into year three. And for some players, that is the year when things finally click. Yet for Walker, getting everything right on the court is more important. It’s a key season for him to establish his long-term role on the Pacers roster.
The team has a key contract decision for the young forward due by the end of the month, then next summer he becomes eligible for a contract extension. His future doesn’t need to be obvious by then, but more clarity would be preferred for both Walker and for Indiana brass.
They might all get that this season. Year three will be big for Jarace Walker with the Pacers, but what was taken away from him last year may have put him on a course to have more in the future.