Pacers' T.J. Warren will not play this season, despite being 'a full participant in on-court activity'

The forward, who will be a free agent in the summer and turns 29 before the start of next season, has not played since Dec. 29, 2020

With 12 games left on the schedule, the Indiana Pacers have announced that T.J. Warren will miss the entire 2021-22 regular season. The forward last played on Dec. 29, 2020, and has since been sidelined after having surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left foot.

"T.J. Warren has worked incredibly hard over the past 14 months to get to this point -- a full participant in on-court activity with his teammates -- all while navigating the many challenges that accompany this type of injury," Pacers president Kevin Pritchard said in the team's official statement. "However, after thoughtful conversation with T.J. and his representatives, it has been determined that the most beneficial course of action at this point is to allow him to focus on the 2022-23 season. We will continue to provide T.J. with all the care, support, and resources necessary to ensure he returns to the high-level of play to which he's accustomed."

Warren is healthy, but Indiana and his reps agreed that it doesn't make sense to bring him back this late in the season, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, who reported that Warren had more than one stress fracture in his foot. The Pacers are 23-47 and have been all but officially eliminated from play-in contention. 

It would have been much more noteworthy if the Pacers had announced Warren would return. Indiana isn't playing for anything, and there isn't much time for him to ramp up his activity, shake off the rust and find a rhythm with an almost entirely new set of teammates. Months ago, however, Pacers fans would have been shocked to learn that Warren would not play at all this season. "Hopefully it'll be weeks and not months, that's the hope," coach Rick Carlisle said at media day on Sep. 27, the same day that Warren said he had not reinjured his foot or suffered any setbacks. His status has been murky all season, and, a week ago, Carlisle said that there was no update. 

Warren will hit free agency in July and turn 29 in September. The last time he played for an extended stretch -- the 2020 bubble -- was the high-water mark of his career. He surely would have liked to show the league that he can still reach that level of play before signing another contract, but instead he'll probably have to use next season as an audition. It's unclear whether he has a future with Indiana, but, now that it is no longer starting two centers, Warren might be a better positional fit than he was before the injury.

The Pacers haven't made any other official announcements, but it doesn't seem likely that center Myles Turner (left foot) or guard T.J. McConnell (right wrist) will play again this season, either. McConnell has been out since early December and Turner has been out since mid-January.