Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton will return to action on Friday vs. Portland after missing the past five games with a hamstring strain, he announced on Twitter.
Haliburton is ahead of schedule, as he was originally expected to miss at least a couple weeks. At the time, there was a sense of relief that the injury, which he sustained vs. Boston on January 8, was not more serious.
The 12th pick of the 2020 draft, Haliburton has been one of the standout players of the 2023/24 season thus far, leading the NBA by averaging 12.5 assists per game while only turning the ball over 2.6 times a night, an elite 4.8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
In addition to his terrific vision, basketball IQ and passing ability, Haliburton is also an extremely efficient scorer, averaging a career-best 23.6 PPG on .497/.403/.868 shooting in 33 games this season (33.4 MPG).
Marc J. Spears of Andscape reported on Thursday (Twitter link) that Pascal Siakam was expected to make his Pacers debut in Portland on Friday and that will indeed be the case, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The two-time All-NBA forward was recently acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Raptors.
Here’s more on the Pacers:
- Multiple reports indicated that Siakam was enthusiastic about the opportunity to play with Haliburton, and Wojnarowski said on his podcast that star players around the league admire the guard’s “unselfish” game, suggesting it could be a key to future roster upgrades (hat tip to Evan Sidery). “They look at how much fun it is to play there,” Wojnarowski said. “How much fun (Haliburton) is to play with. How unselfish he is. And it sometimes allows you to play up in class in terms of your market. He makes up for the difference that a Midwestern market might’ve had trouble keeping the guy.”
- Count Myles Turner among the players excited about Siakam’s addition, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required). “Everybody sees this as a win-now move,” Turner said. “It’s an exciting move and a big move at the same time just to have someone who’s an All-Star and a 20-point-a-night scorer come into an organization like this, especially one that’s building and trying to get to a place that he’s been before (winning a championship).”
- Head coach Rick Carlisle also spoke about Siakam on Thursday, as Dopirak relays. “We like him very much,” Carlisle said. “Been a long-time admirer. He has some unique skills for the 4 position. I even believe he can play some 3. I know he can play some small ball 5. I’ve just heard many, many great things about him as a person, as a professional, as a worker, as a teammate. Obviously, he’s been named to multiple All-Stars, multiple all-leagues, he’s done it at a high level. We think we’re getting him at a perfect time in his career.”
Indy finally did it. They waited patiently. Being from greater Sacramento area I know how hard it was to lose Haliburton and gain Sabonis. Such a risk. That trade was a monster and since then ppl called for trades to make their move again and push. SKYCAM will be worth it. 3 firsts feels like a lot but if you intend to be good then those picks come late if your plan comes thru. Good luck Pacers fans and guess what. I’m gonna watch Portland VS Indy. Might not have otherwise
If your Toppin you’ve gotta be wondering like which team needs you. To want out from NYK cause you wanna start. Then you do for a while and now once again you’re a backup. Looking at the NBA landscape like only the nets could use him and possibly kings via trade. I don’t see pacers maxing out Siakam and also extending Toppin who is gonna want north of 15mil. He is shooting the ball well but yea.
Couldn’t agree more. His +/- always seems pretty strong too. I still think they use him outside the arc too much and don’t use enough pick n roll with Obi. I actually think his defense has gotten better this season as well (not to say it’s good, but his effort is really high and that makes up for some of his skirmishness). I just wish he was a little more physical with the ball in his hand. But yeah he is fun to watch on the bench and in games.
Obi would thrive playing off Luka and the Mavs are small up front. Mavs should offer Grant Williams as a Bruce Brown replacement for Obi Toppin and Isaiah Jackson.
Obi looks like the odd man out there now. I think he could hit FA. Unless he gets bundled with Buddy in a trade.
Obi is still in a decent place. IND is one of only a few teams in the league that play the kind of uptempo style that Obi needs to balance out a positive. SAC is another, and I’m sure there are a few others. But a trade is unlikely to help him. Going somewhere new is just exchanging one bench for another, and the fact is his best chance of earning minutes is in IND, where he’s incorporated into the team, liked and essentially playing well. He’s a RFA at the end of the year (or UFA if IND declines to make the q/o). If, at that point, he thinks a better opportunity exists elsewhere, then he has a league full of teams to find it.
Siakam got absolutely roasted by Jerami Grant