Indiana Pacers will come to the new season completely fractured with the absence of star Tyrese Haliburton and the departure of their starting center Myles Turner. Their season is expected to be completely different from the magical playoffs run they had wherein they reached the NBA finals.
This means harder and more work for those who are left. Who could breakout and make the most out of the opportunities that opened up? Haliburton is intrigued the most with second year guard Johhny Furphy.
The 20-year-old Australian was the team’s 35th overall pick in last year’s draft and his best moment so far was his viral rim-breaking dunk in the last game of the regular season.
Johnny Furphy had everyone going wild after this poster ⚡ pic.twitter.com/0DNY6bIHGS
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) September 12, 2025
That was not a fluke as he carried that energy into the Summer League where he created one of the nastiest posters ever seen.
Johnny Furphy on Noa Essengue pic.twitter.com/Mom22KXnnK
— Kevin O’Connor (@KevinOConnor) July 14, 2025
JOHNNY FURPHY OH MY GOODNESS 😱🔨
GAVE US THE DUNK OF THE SUMMER LEAGUE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KeA5yijXkm
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 15, 2025
Johnny Furphy’s Year 2 excites Tyrese Haliburton
He finished his rookie year averaging just 2.1 points in 50 games. His career high was 17 points.
While those are not staggering numbers, Haliburton said Furphy has been hard at work in his drive to improve. The Kansas Jayhawks standout is the one he is excited the most this season.
“A lot of different guys have gotten better in so many different areas,” Haliburton said. “I think if I were to single out a guy, I would say Johnny Furphy has looked really good.
“I thought he looked really good in the Summer League, and then he’s just been a gym rat. Since then, he went to Australia right after Summer League, and he’s been back for a while. He was one of the first guys back with me.
Furphy plays shooting guard and small forward, positions that will be in dire need of reinforcement as Andrew Nembhard is set to take Haliburton’s role in quarterbacking the offense.
He will compete for the role with Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, and Ben Sheppard.
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