Indiana Pacers’ Quenton Jackson smiles before an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Aaron Gash)
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INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers will not waive guard Quenton Jackson today, meaning his contract for the 2026-27 season will become fully guaranteed. Jackson is set to make $2.58 million during the coming campaign.
Jackson’s agreement for the ongoing league year only had $275k of guaranteed money, meaning had he been waived the Pacers could have saved about $2.3 million against the salary cap and opened a roster spot. The deadline for such a transaction was today, July 15.
By not releasing Jackson or altering his agreement in any way, the Pacers will see his contract become fully guaranteed. That $2.58 million will sit on their books the entire season, barring a trade.
That was always the most likely outcome. Jackson signed a three-year deal with Indiana back in February, but only the first season was fully guaranteed. The rest of the contract came with only a small amount of money certain to come Jackson’s way, a flexibility compromise between the guard and the Pacers.
But the 27-year old, who will be 28 when the upcoming season starts, has gotten better every year he’s been in Indiana. “Quenton’s been awesome,” Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said of Jackson earlier this year. “He’s a big part of our culture in our locker room.”
What has Quenton Jackson done in his time with the Pacers?
Jackson originally signed with the Pacers in 2024 and has improved each year. He played sparingly during this first season with the franchise, spending most of his time in the G League. In 2024-25 he appeared in 28 games, and some of his minutes were meaningful. He helped keep the team afloat early in the season as they dealt with injuries to other guards.
In 2025-26, the Pacers had a challenging year filled with absences. Jackson, who dealt with injuries himself, took advantage. He played in 49 games – more than he had in his entire career to that point – which included 19 starts. On multiple occasions, he closed tight games for the blue and gold. And that was on merit, the California native was producing.
That earned him his current contract, and he will now have a guaranteed standard deal for the second-consecutive season. Jackson averaged 9.1 points and 2.9 assists per game for Indiana last year.
“What we’ve asked him to do is to play his game within our system. And the first thing you notice about him is just how hard he goes,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of Jackson late in 2024. “He’s a combative defender. He’s a rim attacker. He’s going to bring intensity and competitiveness to the game.”
The Pacers roster and salary cap outlook is now more clear with Jackson officially in the fold. Indiana now has 14 players signed to guaranteed contracts, one shy of the maximum a team can carry in the regular season. They are $5.87 million over the luxury tax line and $2.24 million below the first apron, which is a hard spending limit for the front office.
Essentially, the Pacers can only add a 15th player to their roster ahead of the coming season if that player has zero or one year(s) of service. The minimum salary for someone with two-plus seasons of NBA service time is $2.45 million, and that doesn’t fit under the first apron for the Pacers. So if they want to add another veteran, they would first need to make a cost-cutting trade.
Now, the Pacers offseason attention can turn to sorting out their two-way deals and determining if they should extend any of the contracts their veterans are signed to. They have two more summer league games in Las Vegas this week.