Eastern Notes: Haliburton, Heat, Haslem, White, Champagnie

As good as Tyrese Haliburton was on the court for the Pacers this season, earning his first All-Star berth and averaging a double-double (20.7 PPG, 10.4 APG), president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard was just as impressed by the character the third-year guard showed off the court, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.

“I’ve never been around a more complete, empathetic, understanding-of-what-the-real-world is, loving, taking-care-of-the-small-people, truly-committed-to-community leader like him,” Pritchard said this week. “I’ve never seen it. I’ve never seen a connector like Tyrese ever. Like ever. He connects with our ball boys. He connects with the CEO of some company. He just has this ability to make people feel comfortable around him. When I talk to him, I learn from him. I really do.”

Already viewed as the cornerstone the Pacers will build around for years to come, Haliburton figures to have a say in personnel moves going forward, according to Dopirak, who notes that a player’s fit alongside the 23-year-old will be considered whenever the team weighs a roster addition.

“The direction that he’s headed, he becomes a partner in the franchise,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. “When you’re the face of the franchise, you’re a real partner in it. We need to do everything possible to put him in a position to be able to do his job at the highest possible levels and try to remove as much difficulty from his job as possible.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

• What will the Heat have to do differently on Friday after losing Tuesday’s play-in game to Atlanta? Just about everything, according to star forward Jimmy Butler. “Come Friday, we’ve got to play, like, legit the exact opposite that we played tonight,” Butler told reporters after Tuesday’s contest, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.com. Butler singled out rebounding and second-chance points as areas Miami needs to clean up — the team was outrebounded 63-39 by Atlanta.
• After Udonis Haslem scored 24 points in 25 minutes during the Heat‘s regular season finale on Sunday, head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about how much he’ll miss having the big man on the sidelines and in the locker room, Friedell writes at ESPN.com. “I’m going to miss his spirit,” Spoelstra said of Haslem, who will retire at season’s end. “I’m going to miss his voice. I’m going to miss his intentions. He has incredible, pure, team intentions. Every single day. He doesn’t have a bad day. He may express himself with anger other times at his teammates or even with me, but his intentions are pure.”
• Bulls guard Coby White started 54 games in 2020/21 but has otherwise served primarily as a reserve since entering the NBA in 2019. After coming off the bench in all but two of his 74 games in ’22/23, White says he still aspires to claim a full-time starting role, per Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic. “You don’t come (into) the league thinking, ‘I’m cool coming off the bench,'” said White, who will be eligible for restricted free agency this offseason. “Yeah, I’ll play whatever role for whatever team I’m on, for sure. But my goal is to be a starter. That ain’t gonna change.”
• Justin Champagnie‘s new deal with the Celtics is a two-year, minimum-salary contract that’s non-guaranteed for 2023/24, Hoops Rumors has learned. Champagnie will get a partial guarantee of $50K if he’s not waived by August 1. That partial guarantee would increase to $350K if he remains under contract through the start of the regular season.