Obi Toppin will be out for a while.
The Pacers forward will undergo surgery to insert a screw in his right foot, which will sideline him until at least February, head coach Rick Carlisle announced Friday.
The Knicks’ former first-round pick left Sunday’s game against the Timberwolves with a suspected hamstring injury before news of the foot injury emerged.
In his two full games before going down, Toppin appeared to take on a bigger role for the injury-plagued Pacers, averaging 16.5 points on 15 field goal attempts and seven rebounds per game.
The Toppin injury is a major blow to a Pacers team that was one win away from an NBA title in June.
Indiana is already without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who will miss the entire season while recovering from surgery on his right Achilles tendon.
Andrew Nembhard, TJ McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin are all sidelined due to various injuries.
The team is also still dealing with the loss of center Myles Turner, who left Indiana for the Bucks in free agency this offseason.
Heading into Friday’s game against the Hawks, the Pacers were 0-4, tied for the worst start in franchise history.
Toppin spent three seasons with the Knicks after being taken No. 8 overall out of Dayton in the 2020 NBA Draft before being traded to the Pacers in the summer of 2023 in exchange for a first-round pick.
In July 2024, Toppin signed a four-year, $60 million deal with the Pacers, just before entering NBA free agency.
After struggling to catch on during his three years in New York, Toppin emerged as a key rotation piece for the Eastern Conference champions last season, averaging 10.5 points per game on 52.9 percent shooting in 19.6 minutes per game.
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