Former Indiana Pacers guard Keifer Sykes on Tyrese Haliburton: 'I knew he would be All-Star caliber'

As soon as Tyrese Haliburton arrived in Indiana after being traded in 2022, many within the Pacers organization felt as if they had acquired the perfect player for their rebuild. Haliburton was already established as a sensational young player, and the Pacers gave him the keys to the franchise almost right away.

That quickly proved to be the correct decision. Haliburton averaged 17.5 points and 9.6 assists per game for the remainder of that season, and he became an All-Star in 2023. Now, he's the face of the franchise and has the team thinking playoffs.

Currently, he is shining for Team USA in the FIBA Basketball World Cup. That is giving Haliburton the chance to show fans around the globe exactly what he has shown the Pacers for the last 18 months — that he is an elite talent.

Those who saw Haliburton up close knew almost right away that he could be this good. Former Pacers guard Keifer Sykes, who spent much of the 2021-22 season with the franchise, had a feeling Haliburton was headed down a star path.

"Yeah, 100%. I knew he would be All-Star caliber," Sykes said of Haliburton on the Locked On Pacers podcast. "He was the perfect player [for that era of the Pacers]."

The pair of guards overlapped with the blue and gold for about two months. In that time, they shared the court for 99 minutes of game action while also battling in practice. Sykes had a front row seat to Haliburton's new reality as the face of a franchise.

In those minutes, the Pacers were outscored 268-231. They had no trouble scoring, but they could not get stops. That offensive success stood out to Sykes, though, as the blue and gold had a 116.1 offensive rating with both players on the hardwood.

"I learned so much from him, just because he just plays so free," Sykes said of Haliburton. "As you can see, with taking deep shots, getting everybody else involved with his passing ability and playmaking ability... I was able to learn so much." Haliburton went on to make his first All-Star game less than a year after Indiana acquired him.

"I saw quickly that he was going to be a great talent," Sykes added. So did the Pacers, and that's why they have invested so much into Haliburton. He's a franchise partner who just received a significant contract extension, so he's going to be around in Indiana for a long time.

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