Tyrese Haliburton's $260 million max extension makes him highest-paid Pacers player ever

INDIANAPOLIS — Kevin Pritchard said in April he was hopeful the Pacers could quickly and easily come to an agreement on a max contract extension with All-Star point guard and franchise player Tyrese Haliburton.

His hope turned out to be correct as the Pacers agreed to a five-year deal worth up to $260 million with Haliburton, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal will take effect beginning with the 2024-25 season. Haliburton's average annual salary of $52 million should put him at about 25% of the salary cap. The deal makes him the highest-paid player in Pacers history.

Haliburton will spend this season on the fourth year of his rookie scale contract and earn $5.81 million. The extension does not cut into the Pacers' $12 million in cap room they have left this season after the signing of Denver's Bruce Brown to a two-year, $45 million deal.

Pritchard and coach Rick Carlisle said in April they consider Haliburton a partner in the Pacers' franchise, and they have backed up that talk by making him the face of the franchise this offseason and giving him input in personnel decisions. Haliburton represented the Pacers on stage at the NBA Draft Lottery in May and he was present for many of the Pacers' draft prospect workouts in May and early June.

"Ty is our guy," Pritchard said in April after the season ended. "We want Ty here for as long as he wants to be here and I don't think that's going to be too complicated. I've gone into some negotiations where I thought that and they became pretty (complicated). But Ty is going to be here a long time."

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Haliburton has been with the Pacers for less than 1 1/2 seasons and thanks to injuries he has played exactly 82 games since he was acquired from Sacramento in February 2022 with Buddy Hield and others in a trade that sent Domantas Sabonis to the Kings. In that short time, however, Haliburton has changed the Pacers' franchise trajectory dramatically. After a 25-win season in 2021-22, the Pacers went 35-47 last season but were held back in part because of his sprained left elbow suffered in January and a sprained ankle suffered toward the end of the season. In his 56 games, the Pacers were 28-28. Without him, they were 7-19, including a 1-9 stretch after he injured the elbow against the Knicks on Jan. 11.

When he was available, he was one of the most effective point guards in the NBA. Haliburton averaged 20.7 points and 10.4 assists per game while shooting 49.0% from the floor, 40% from the 3-point line and 87.1% on the foul line to earn his first All-Star nod. He became the first player to average more than 20 points and 10 assists while also shooting 40% from 3-point range, and he did that on high volume, making 161 of 402 attempts. The 76ers James Harden and Atlanta's Trae Young were the only other players in the NBA to average 10 assists per game last season.

Though the 6-5, 185-pound Haliburton acknowledges he has to become a better man-to-man defender, he also provided value on defense with a nose for the ball, averaging 1.6 steals per game in large part because of his IQ and ability to read passing lanes. That put him seventh among players who appeared in at least 50 games.

In three seasons since being drafted by Sacramento out of Iowa State, Haliburton is averaging 16.2 points and 8.0 assists per game for his career and shooting 47.9% from the field and 40.8% from 3-point range.

Haliburton's extension means the Pacers' salary cap situation will be considerably tighter next season, as center Myles Turner will still be on contract for $20 million and the two of them will take up about 35% of the cap space. That said, that's a lot less than a lot of teams pay for two stars, and the Pacers should still be able to easily put together a roster without running into luxury tax trouble.