INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers have waived guard Taelon Peter, who was previously signed to a two-way contract.
Peter signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Pacers in the 2025 offseason, then spent the entire 2025-26 season with Indiana. Thanks to a down year filled with injuries, Peter appeared in 38 NBA games and logged nearly 500 minutes as a rookie.
The Liberty product averaged 4.5 points and 1.6 rebounds per game for the blue and gold, including six appearances in which he scored in double figures. Peter was thrust into a challenging situation early in his career, playing out of position for a banged-up Pacers group.
The Pacers drafted Peter after a very strong three-point shooting season at Liberty University in 2024-25. “He’s considered one of the best shooters in the league. And movement and shooting is what this league is about right now,” Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said last summer.
Pritchard was hopeful that the shooting would combine with Peter’s athleticism to create a strong prospect, especially for someone selected 54th overall. But the 24-year old shot just 32.8% from long range in the NBA – a subpar number even as Peter adjusted to the longer NBA three-point line.
In the G League, Peter made 20 appearances for the Pacers affiliate team, the Noblesville Boom. There, his numbers were solid at 14.9 points per game, but his three-point percentage sat at 36.3%. He showed more on the ball with the Boom, but his jump shot never quite materialized at any level during his rookie campaign.
What went into the Pacers decision to waive Taelon Peter?
Still, by nature of being a recent draft pick and by signing a multi-year agreement last summer, Peter was in the mix for the Pacers this summer. He spent the early portion of the offseason focusing on his playmaking skills and on-ball defense, two things he hoped to show in summer league while still under contract.
“[I] was able to realize where I stood in the league,” Peter said of his rookie year while reflecting on the abilities he hoped to improve.
Two things happened between the end of the regular season and now that impacted Peter’s future with the Pacers, and they were both two-way contract signings. After selecting Braden Smith 38th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Pacers agreed to bring him in on a two-way deal, then the team signed Kobe Brown to a two-way pact early in the free agency period. Suddenly, two of the Pacers three two-way contract slots were accounted for.
Teams are only allowed to have three two-way contract players under contract at once, so Peter entered summer league locked into a battle for the team’s final spot. By being under contract, he was certainly in the mix – as was Ethan Thompson (still signed to a two-way with the Pacers) and Jalen Slawson (who received a two-way qualifying offer from the team in late June).
Thompson had a solid run of play for the Puerto Rican national team in early July, then Slawson was the Pacers best player during summer league. During five games in Las Vegas, Slawson averaged 20.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while being one of the best shot blockers from any team.
Peter, meanwhile, averaged 10.4 points per game and didn’t impact the squad much in other ways. Slawson was the better player of the two on the same stage, something noteworthy as the Pacers determined their final two-way contract slot(s).
Also, with the Pacers being hard capped and only having 14 players signed to standard contracts, their two-way signees may actually be needed this season. Both Thompson and Slawson are more ready to contribute than Peter at this moment, making them better fits for Indiana in their current roster situation.
That made a Peter waiver make sense, and the Pacers made it official on Monday. The team now has 14 players signed to standard contracts and two signed to two-way agreements. There is still a bit of work to do for the front office in free agency.
Facts Only
* Taelon Peter was waived by the Indiana Pacers.
* Peter signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Pacers in the 2025 offseason and played the 2025-26 season with them.
* Peter appeared in 38 NBA games and logged nearly 500 minutes as a rookie.
* Peter averaged 4.5 points and 1.6 rebounds per game for the Pacers.
* Peter shot 32.8% from long range in the NBA.
* In the G League with the Noblesville Boom, Peter averaged 14.9 points per game and shot 36.3% from three.
* The team had two-way contract slots accounted for by Peter, Ethan Thompson, and Jalen Slawson.
* Jalen Slawson averaged 20.8 points and 6.4 rebounds in five Las Vegas summer league games.
* Taelon Peter averaged 10.4 points per game during the relevant period.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The narrative of waiving a player, even one recently drafted and under contract, reveals a tension between established expectations, potential growth, and immediate roster needs. The process described involves the constraints of multi-year contracts and league rules governing two-way players, which forces a decision based on contractual management rather than pure on-court performance metrics. Peter's trajectory illustrates how initial high potential (drafted 54th overall, lauded as a shooter) can diverge significantly from immediate NBA execution (32.8% three-point shooting), forcing a re-evaluation of value within the team structure. The ultimate decision seems driven by positioning other players who are demonstrably better fits for the current competitive situation—Thompson and Slawson—rather than simply dismissing Peter's past performance. This suggests that contractual obligations and the assessment of available options, rather than just individual statistical output, became the determining factors in a complex roster management scenario.
BRIDGE QUESTIONS: If roster constraints were ignored, would the team have waived Peter based solely on his recent production versus Thompson and Slawson? What is the long-term cost or benefit of managing roster slots through two-way contracts when players are still developing skills? What external pressures—beyond immediate talent assessment—influence these contractual decisions?