All-Star Tyrese Haliburton will return to the Indiana Pacers' lineup next season. How will he perform?
NBA analyst Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report believes Tyrese Haliburton is the Indiana Pacers player "with the most to prove" next season.
Haliburton will return to the Pacers' lineup next season after missing all of last season recovering from his Achilles tear.
One of the top players in the NBA, Haliburton had an outstanding 2024-25 campaign for the Pacers. He averaged 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 9.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.7 blocks per game and made the All-NBA Third Team.
Haliburton is averaging 19.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 10.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game in a Pacers uniform. He signed a five-year, $244 million extension with the Pacers in July 2023. The talented floor general will make $48,924,624 next season, $52,298,736 in 2027-28 and $55,672,848 in 2028-29, the final year of his deal.
The basketball world can't wait to see Haliburton back on the court. We are almost there and Haliburton's dad, John, expects his son's team to be "right at the top" again.
"I expect them right at the top," John told Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson. "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."
Tyrese has career averages of 17.5 points and 8.8 assists per game in the regular season and 17.9 points and 8.4 assists per game in the playoffs. He led the Pacers to the 2025 NBA Finals.
Indiana is expected to start Tyrese, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac next season.
