James Wiseman has surgery to repair Achilles. How will Pacers fill center's lengthy absence?

This story has been updated to add information.

NEW YORK -- Pacers center James Wiseman had successful surgery to repair his torn left Achilles tendon Thursday night, a league source confirmed to to the IndyStar on Friday. ESPN's Shams Charania first reported the news.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Martin O'Malley at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York where the Pacers are in town to play the Knicks on Friday night in a rematch of the Eastern Conference semifinals. A full recovery timeline will be established in the coming weeks, though Achilles tendon tears tend to take 4-6 months of recovery time and the injuries are usually season-ending.

Wiseman suffered the injury in the Pacers' win over the Pistons on Wednesday night in Detroit. There was no contact with another player involved, but Wiseman felt obvious pain in his leg, fell to the floor and had to be helped off. He scored six points on 2-of-4 shooting in four minutes and 38 seconds of action before the injury.

Insider: Why you should feel good about Pacers’ uneven win vs lowly Pistons

Doyel: In nick of time, Haliburton remembers he's a star, leads Pacers past Pistons

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said in his pre-game press conference Friday that Wiseman has not yet been fully ruled out for the season. He called Dr. O'Malley one of the best surgeons in the world and said they were fortunate to be in New York so that he could perform the surgery. However, that was the only fortunate thing about the situation.

"This was terrible luck," Carlisle said. "Great kid who had an amazing summer of preparation, really good preseason. Training camp was also really good. It's just one of those things. Just a very odd circumstance. Very unlucky."

This is Wiseman's second major leg injury in his five seasons in the NBA since he was taken No. 2 overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 2020 draft. He also missed the entire 2021-22 season with a torn meniscus and the Warriors won the NBA title that year. He also had knee and wrist injuries in his rookie season that held him to just 39 games in 2020-21.

Wiseman was hoping for a fresh start after his injury-riddled tenure with the Warriors, a February 2023 trade to the Pistons and a non-descript season plus with Detroit. The 7-1, 240-pounder signed with the Pacers in the offseason to a two-year veteran minimum contract worth approximately $4.8 million with a club option for the 2025-26 season. He averaged 8.5 points and 5.8 rebounds in preseason play, shooting 70.8% from the floor. He was slotted as the third-string center behind Myles Turner and Isaiah Jackson, but Jackson missed Wednesday's game with a groin strain and Wiseman came off the bench with the second unit.

Wiseman is averaging 9.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for his career.

Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton wore Wiseman's practice jersey at an optional shootaround on Friday. The team posted the photo on its social media accounts.

How will Pacers fill James Wiseman roster spot?

With Wiseman out long term — perhaps for the season — the Pacers have decisions to make at the center position. With Jackson and Wiseman out, rookie Enrique Freeman — a second-round pick from Akron who is on a two-way contract — played 6:39 in his first game in the NBA and Turner played 36. Jackson returns to the lineup on Friday, but it's still not optimal to have just two centers on the roster. They could explore the remaining free agent market or could lean heavily on Freeman. They can also use power forward Obi Toppin as the center in the second unit and move Jarace Walker from small forward back to power forward in those cases.

Carlisle said at the moment, they are trying to make due with what they have, but he didn't rule out an addition.

"I would think that our people are getting a few phone calls today from agents and stuff like that," Carlisle said. "I've not been focusing on that. The good news for us is Isaiah Jackson will be back and available. That's very good news. We will just right now focus on the guys we have on the roster that are ready to go and come out with guns blazing. That's what you gotta do in this situation."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: James Wiseman has surgery to repair Achilles. How will Pacers fill center's lengthy absence?