Deal Accepted! Liberty Flames Sharpshooter Taelon Peter Inks Five-Year Pact with the Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers have doubled down on their belief in second-round pick Taelon Peter, announcing a five-year contract that will keep the 6-foot-4 shooting guard in Indianapolis through the 2029-30 season
. The agreement is an unusually long commitment for a No. 54 overall selection, signaling that head coach Rick Carlisle and president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard view Peter as a foundational depth piece who can grow alongside franchise cornerstones Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin. While financial terms were not disclosed, league sources indicate the first two years are fully guaranteed, with team options and performance incentives layered into the final three seasons—a structure that gives both sides flexibility.
Peter’s meteoric rise over the past 18 months made such a vote of confidence possible. After three steady years at Division II Arkansas Tech, Peter transferred to Liberty for his final season of eligibility and promptly posted one of the nation’s most efficient stat lines: 13.7 points on 45.3 percent shooting from three and an NCAA-best .724 true-shooting percentage, earning Conference USA Sixth Man of the Year honors despite starting just two games.
Scouts were intrigued not only by Peter’s movement shooting but also by his “sneaky” burst at the rim—a trait he flashed whenever defenders over-closed on the perimeter. Indiana’s front office believes that combination of off-ball gravity and sudden athletic pop meshes perfectly with Haliburton’s playmaking. “We see Taelon as a plug-and-play floor spacer who can eventually handle secondary creation duties,” Pritchard said in the team’s release.
The Pacers’ Summer League staff will task Peter with refining two swing skills: point-of-attack defense and live-dribble passing. Carlisle praised the rookie’s willingness to accept a spark-plug role off the bench—something Peter already embraced at Liberty—and hinted that mindset could earn him rotation minutes as early as November. “We need instant energy on our second unit,” Carlisle noted. “Taelon’s wiring fits that bill.”
Peter, for his part, relishes the fit. “First and foremost, I’m a winner,” he said at his introductory press conference. “I’ll do whatever it takes—hit threes, dive on the floor, guard full court. If somebody wants to meet me at the rim, we’ll see what happens.”
With a five-year runway to develop, Peter now has the stability rookie second-rounders often lack. If his shooting translates and his defense catches up, Indiana may have unearthed the latest gem in a franchise history dotted with savvy draft steals.