The best and worst partners for Tyrese Haliburton during his first full season with the Indiana Pacers
Tyrese Haliburton changed everything for the Indiana Pacers this season. He improved the team's fortunes, he set the team's identity, and he re-ignited a fanbase. The team is accelerating its timeline thanks, in part, to his brilliant play this past campaign.
For Indiana to move forward, they will need to figure out how to maximize Haliburton and his abilities. And part of doing so is figuring out what skills, and players, the All-Star point guard fits fell with. His IQ and creation abilities mostly pair well with anyone, but there are certain players and styles that allow Haliburton to make the Pacers look even better.
The two teammates that led to the best net ratings for the Pacers when playing alongside Haliburton in 2022-23 were Aaron Nesmith (+5.3) and Myles Turner (+2.1). That is unsurprising. Nesmith was one of Indiana's best perimeter defenders this season, if not the best, and Turner has been the team's most impactful defender for years. Putting capable defensive players on the court with one of the premier offensive talents in the league should lead to good results, and it did for the blue and gold.
Nesmith and Turner and both solid-to-good shooters, too. They both shot roughly 37% from deep this past season and kept defenses honest. For a player like Haliburton, who always finds the open man and can create open shots for floor spacers, quality shooters are a good match. It's not a surprise at all that the Pacers did well when either of those duos shared the court, though there is some overlap since all three players started games often. Three-and-D talent pairs well with Haliburton and should going forward.
The next three players, and the final trio that had a positive two-man lineups net rating alongside Haliburton, mostly either provided three-point shooting when playing with the All-Star. Buddy Hield (+0.9 net rating with Haliburton) and Jordan Nwora (+0.1) both shot better than 42% from deep for the blue and gold this past season. That level of shooting will elevate any group, but especially one with an elite creator.
Lineups featuring both Bennedict Mathurin and Haliburton had a net rating of +0.5. Mathurin canned barely over 32% of his shots from beyond the arc this past season, and that number dipped below 30% when looking at the minutes the rookie played with Haliburton. Instead, when these two played together, it was their collective gravity and rim pressure that changed the game — the Pacers shot 38.81% from deep when both players were on the court. Indiana's defense was concerning when both young guards were on the hardwood, but the team made up for it with incredible offense.
The flip side of this exercise leads to similar conclusions. Four two-man lineup combinations featuring Haliburton and another player (with at least 100 minutes of action) led to a net rating of -6 or worse this past season. The players who were tied to Haliburton in those instances were Jalen Smith, Isaiah Jackson, Chris Duarte, and T.J. McConnell.
None of those four players provided much spacing this past season. For Duarte, Jackson, and Smith, it's because they shot poorly from long range — each one of them finished the campaign below 32% from the outside. For McConnell, while he did bury 44.1% of his threes, he still didn't attempt enough to bend defenses or put fear in them.
It isn't just shooting that caused these units to struggle, though. Duarte, for example, had health working against him. Despite the two being teammates since February of 2022, Haliburton and Duarte have played in the same game just 40 times. Duarte, while talented, looked like he was struggling to fit this past season at times, and the team's play style changing around Haliburton while Duarte was simultaneously injured didn't help.
Smith and Jackson both have flashes of two-way excellence at the five, but neither of them provides enough offensive or defensive force to elevate lineups just yet. Haliburton and Jackson have good offensive synergy, but Smith has helped more on the defensive end when paired with the All-Star. Neither pairing has led to consistent team success yet.
As for McConnell, it's simple. Both he and Haliburton are at their best when they have the ball in their hands, but only one of them can actually have it when they share the court. It never looks awkward, but it does mean someone is playing out of position and not maximizing their talents. Plus, on defense, both players can only guard one or two positions, so there are fewer ways to package them together.
Shooting and defense fit with any player, and Haliburton is no different. But he can lift the floor of essentially any lineup, even poor offensive groups. It seems like surrounding Haliburton with more defense should be a goal for Indiana in future seasons, especially three-and-D talent. Beyond that, it will be important for the Pacers to avoid playing other primary ball handlers with the All-Star guard while also developing their young big men establish themselves on at least one end of the hardwood.
When Haliburton plays, he has one of then the hardest offensive roles in the league. It's up to the Pacers to find the right pairings to make being a high-volume creator just a little bit easier.
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