The Indiana Pacers are preparing for the new season and All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton revealed his intention of helping the franchise recruit more star power in the future. The Olympian was asked about his conscious efforts to bring more talent to Indiana during his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
“The story about me recruiting players to Indiana got blown out of proportion. They made it seem like I was the only one doing it, but everyone was recruiting,” Tyrese Haliburton claimed (h/t Hoopshype)
“I just play in the smallest market, so when I do it, it gets magnified. That’s fine, though. Indiana is a great market. It’s a basketball state. We’ve got a good thing going here, so if anyone wants to play with me, they’ll have to come to Indiana. I’m not going anywhere.”
Tyrese Haliburton is coming off an impressive 2023-24 campaign. He averaged 20.1 points and 10.9 assists and led the Pacers back to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2014.
Indiana is not considered a top-tier destination for the highest caliber talent in the NBA, but still, Haliburton has developed a close connection with the team, which added Pascal Siakam in a blockbuster deal last February. With the Cameroonian on the roster, Indiana improved its place in the standings and faced the Milwaukee Bucks in the opening round of the 2024 playoffs.
They eventually beat the Bucks and Knicks in a pair of upsets to make the Eastern Finals. They backed up their postseason success with some strong performances against the powerful Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Pacers doubled down on the last season’s roster and they hope that they can go even further with Tyrese Haliburton on the helm.
