2025 Eastern Conference Champion Power Forward Returns to Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers had themselves one memorable season. Although they didn’t win it all, they pushed the best team in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder, to the limit in an epic seven-game series. Indiana became Eastern Conference Champions for the first time since 2000. 25 years later, the Pacers showed the league how dangerous and truly underrated this team was throughout the entire NBA season. Isaiah Jackson was a huge part of the Pacers’ offensive and defensive scheme during the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Which is crazy because on November 1st, in a matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans, just months before the start of the playoffs, Jackson tore his Achilles tendon, ending his season with only five games played. Since the NBA Finals concluded, the Eastern Conference champion power forward has been set to hit free agency. Today, he signed a three-year deal to return to the Indiana Pacers, reported by Shams Charania.
During the 2021 NBA Draft, the Indiana Pacers selected Jackson as the 22nd pick. During his rookie season on January 31st, 2022, he recorded a season-high of 26 points, along with 10 rebounds and two blocks during a 122-116 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. While Indiana did not make the playoffs during Jackson’s first two seasons, in the last two seasons, the Pacers have proved the doubters wrong in every way imaginable. During the 2023-2024 season, they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, falling short to the eventual champions, the Boston Celtics. This past season, the Pacers defeated the New York Knicks in six games during the Eastern Conference Finals, making their first Finals appearance since the days of Reggie Miller.
Jackson played in five regular-season games for Indiana this past season, averaging about seven points, six rebounds, an assist, a steal, and two blocks. During the 2025 NBA Playoffs, Jackson appeared in 15 games. He averaged roughly four points, three rebounds, and a block in 10 minutes of action a night. The Eastern Conference champion power forward looks to make strides in his fifth NBA season with the Pacers this upcoming season.
