There are three levels of existence in the NBA: teams stuck in the mud, teams trying to get through a championship window, and future contenders waiting their turn. Before Tyrese Haliburton’s first full season as a Pacer, Indiana was rudderless and stuck on a road to nowhere. Other than Haliburton, there wasn’t much to hope for. The Pacers had famously avoided tanking for years, so the talent coffers weren’t as full as Oklahoma City’s or New Orleans’. Benoît Mathurin was their first top-9 selection since 1989. As a result, The ring ranked them 14th in their future rankings behind the Atlanta Hawks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies and Charlotte Hornets. Each of the aforementioned teams’ offenses were orchestrated by some of the games’ young, neophyte leaders.
FiveThirtyEightthe now-defunct RAPTOR player the notes provided insight into Haliburton’s standing among his peers at the time. Haliburton’s RAPTOR score before his first full season as a Pacer ranked him 81st behind Melo Ball (80th), Trae Young (27th), Ja Morant (23rd) and Shai Gilgous Alexander (71st). At the end of the 2022 season, he was 30th, but the Pacers were still a sub-.500 team and a bottom-third offense.
Just as Haliburton is working his way through the mosh pit of young point guards, Indiana has jumped the line this season. Gilgeous-Alexander’s sudden rise caused some noise, but Haliburton was more sleepy due to a melatonin infraction. If you hadn’t heard that Haliburton was threatening to become the first player to average 25 points and 12 assists in a season, he forced his way into your consciousness Monday night when his four-point play in the final 90 seconds of regulation helped catapult unruly Indiana beyond the most corporate Boston Celtics.
Today, Haliburton and SGA are the on-court directors of two of the NBA’s up-and-coming Whippersnappers teams. Conversely, the Trae Young Hawks are trending downward and Young’s stock is crashing with him. This 2021 conference final looks more like an aberration every day. Morant was forced to take a sabbatical by the NBA after a series of off-court incidents and Melo Ball struggled to lift the Hornets off the floor.
Meanwhile, Haliburton has become the accelerator of a Pacers flamethrower attack that is earth-shattering. NBA offensive efficiency records. If SGA is the no-nonsense superstar, Haliburton brings the shine. Above all, Indiana finally has a personality and an edge. But only Haliburton brings its GTA 6 offensive basketball mode to the NBA’s version of March Madness.
New Orleans has already shown its greatness, but Indiana had the profile of a low-risk, low-reward penny stock roster. In overtaking Boston to reach Las Vegas for the NBA Cup semifinals, Haliburton took advantage of showcasing Indiana’s fast-paced offense on a big stage. In NBA Cup games, they have now won against the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks.
Inevitably, once a player of Haliburton’s caliber emerges, the countdown until he can showcase his talents to a larger market begins. On Tuesday, Nick Freidell, formerly of ESPN, posited that the league would be better off with the Knicks and Lakers advancing than the Bucks and Pacers. He’s going to wait a long time.
Indiana repeating that kind of run in a seven-game series is much more unlikely due to Indiana’s ghost defense, but in a single-elimination setup, unpredictability reigns supreme. YOLO basketball plays single elimination basketball best. Plus, that $500,000 prize for winning the tournament is a bit different for a team made up of 25-and-under stars with reasonable contracts based in Indianapolis. Haliburton’s $250 million rookie extension doesn’t take effect until next season, while the dollar stretches a bit further than it would in Los Angeles.
However, it is better for the Pacers’ long-term viability that they have an easily diagnosable vulnerability. To liven up their defense, Indiana signed Bruce Brown in free agency to provide defensive solidity, and rookie Jarace Walker was drafted by Houston because of his defensive versatility, but Walker has barely seen the field this season. In a handful of G League assignments, Walker lit up the court, averaging 26 points on an incredibly efficient 60/40/70 split while also contributing energy plays defensively in the form of 2.6 actions (thefts and blockages) per night. His long-term development may be the pivotal point of Indiana’s rise, but Indiana is years away from releasing its 19-year-old forward.
Ultimately, Indiana has already shown enough to propel them into the NBA stratosphere. In a league of haves and have-nots, Indiana has always been at a disadvantage, but small-market teams are having a moment. Denver is the defending champion. New Orleans has been healthy and flying high since turning its season around after a meeting reserved for players in mid-November. The Bucks locked up Giannis Antetokounmpo for four more years and for the first time in years, Indiana inserted himself into the conversation.
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