Tyrese Haliburton has reached the point where the Pacers don’t even sound like a team considering options anymore. They sound like a team protecting the one player they can’t imagine moving.
That’s the read from Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale, who described Haliburton as the only untouchable name in Indiana’s trade conversations. As Favale wrote, “The Pacers could probably get decent returns for any of Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith, but after the Tyrese Haliburton-less gap year, they'll likely want to see what the group looks like with him back and Ivica Zubac in place,”
Haliburton is set to return next season after missing all of last season while recovering from an Achilles tear. It will be his second NBA stop, but all signs point to this one being permanent after the Sacramento Kings traded him to Indiana during the 2021-22 season.
The case for keeping him obvious: Haliburton isn’t just one of the best players on the Pacers, he’s one of the best players in the league. In 2024-25, he put up 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 9.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.7 blocks per game and earned All-NBA Third Team honors.
His overall numbers in a Pacers uniform tell the same story. Haliburton is averaging 19.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game in Indiana. He signed a five-year, $244 million extension in July 2023, and his deal is locked in through 2028-29, when he’ll make $55,672,848 in the final season.
There’s already plenty of confidence around what comes next. Haliburton’s father, John, told Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, “I expect them right at the top,”
He expanded on that by pointing to the growth of Indiana’s young players during Haliburton’s absence.
“I’m not going to lie to you. If you know basketball and you've been paying attention, you know that all of our rookies and second-year players got a chance to really go out there and grow through this run. They got a chance to experience the game at the highest level, slow it down, and understand exactly what it takes to win.
“Now, by the time Tyrese gets back on the floor, these young guys have already been through the fire. So you tell me-what is going to stop them from going to the top?
New York won the championship this year, but they won it because Indiana wasn't fully standing in their way at the very end. Next year, with Tyrese back, Indiana will be standing right there.”
Haliburton’s resume backs up the optimism. He owns career regular-season averages of 17.5 points and 8.8 assists per game, and in the playoffs he has posted 17.9 points and 8.4 assists per game. He also led the Pacers to the 2025 NBA Finals.
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Tyrese Haliburton Shared The Trade-Day Moment That Changed Indiana
Tyrese Haliburtons arrival in Indiana has already become one of the defining moments of the franchises recent run, and the story behind it still carries a little extra weight. He came over from Sacramento in the deal that sent Domantas Sabonis to the Kings, a swap that instantly changed the Pacers direction and gave them the kind of lead guard around whom they could build.
Haliburton has since spent an entire season on the sideline while recovering from an Achilles injury suffered two years ago, and Indiana felt that absence. The Pacers struggled without him, but there is a clear sense that a healthy Haliburton changes the outlook, especially now that Ivica Zubac is in the mix as well. What makes the trade story linger is the moment Haliburton says stuck with him on the day everything shifted to Indiana. [Read more 🡒]