Yahoo Sports Pacers offseason primer: Tyrese Haliburton extension, cap space and more
The Indiana Pacers finished Year 2 of their mini-rebuild and just missed the postseason for a third consecutive season. They’ve prioritized relevance and competitiveness in the past three decades by always striving for a playoff spot. In that span, they haven’t missed the postseason for more than four seasons in a row. Their history suggests that they don’t intend on having a losing record for much longer.
The Pacers could be ready to take the next step within the next few years. With a core led by Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and the 7th overall pick in this year’s draft, they may have enough in their foundation to sustain long-term success. They also have the means to add veteran help with plenty of trade ammo and significant cap space over the next few years.
Here is a preview of the 2023 offseason for the Indiana Pacers.
State of the roster and cap space
The Pacers are entering the offseason with 15 players under contract, three of which include first-round picks. They have the 7th overall selection in this year’s draft, as well as the 26th via Cleveland and the 29th via Boston. They are projected to generate up to $27.3 million in cap space, which is roughly $6.2 million less than the lowest maximum salary level.
The big question the Pacers will have is if they want to strike with their cap space this summer or the next. They project to have slightly more space next summer after presumably extending Tyrese Haliburton to a maximum contract. That flexibility could disappear if they utilize their cap space on players to long-term contracts, as well as potentially extending Buddy Hield and Aaron Nesmith.
They could potentially keep their books clean enough for 2025 free agency since it would be Bennedict Mathurin’s last season on his rookie contract. Even if the Pacers do add long-term salaries to their payroll in the next two years, the flexibility of Mathurin’s low salary could allow them to make the subsequent moves to generate cap space.
Indiana’s biggest holes are in the frontcourt. They played one of the most undersized starting lineups last season featuring Hield and Nesmith at the forward spots. They could address one of those spots long-term with the 7th overall selection. If they keep the pick, the Pacers could have their choice of forwards such as Cam Whitmore, Ausar Thompson, Taylor Hendricks, and Jarace Walker.
When the Pacers acquired 2023 first-round picks for Caris LeVert and Malcolm Brogdon, they probably weren’t hoping they turn out to be the 26th and 29th overall picks, respectively. They could look to package these selections to move up in the draft and create new roster spots. They could also try to combine those picks as well as some of their recent first-round picks like Chris Duarte and Isaiah Jackson to move up from the 7th overall spot or acquire a veteran in an uneven trade.
Potential free agent and trade targets
If the Pacers plan on adding talent who could immediately impact the team, they should be able to acquire some in free agency or in a trade. As far as frontcourt help, they have enough cap space to make a competitive offer for forwards like Jerami Grant and Kyle Kuzma. They could also look to make aggressive offer sheets to restricted free agents like Cameron Johnson and Rui Hachimura.
On the trade front, they could be natural trade partners with the Raptors should they decide to change things up. An addition of Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby would significantly improve the roster and potentially get them back in the playoff mix. They’ve also been linked to Hawks forward John Collins, who has been on the trade block for over a year now.
The Pacers will also have the $7.6 million room mid-level exception which they could utilize after spending their cap space. They could further solidify their frontcourt rotation by pursuing players such as Dillon Brooks, Matisse Thybulle, and Jalen McDaniels with it.
Last season, the Pacers rolled over $27.8 million in cap space, which put them $15.4 million below the salary floor. They didn’t end up utilizing their cap space before the start of the season but eventually got over the floor as they slowly spent the remainder of it as they got closer to the trade deadline. The new CBA has new measures that will likely prevent teams like the Pacers from rolling over that much cap space or potentially finishing below the floor again.
Now teams under the salary floor as of the first day of the regular season lose the difference between their cap space and the floor. This would’ve reduced the Pacers’ in-season cap space from $27.8 million to just $12.4 million. Teams below the floor before the regular season starts will also be required to pay the difference to the league and will no longer receive a distribution of luxury tax payments. The loss of cap space alone will likely motivate the Pacers to maximize their spending before the start of the year.
Extension candidate: Tyrese Haliburton
Tyrese Haliburton is set to become extension-eligible this offseason and securing his future will likely be Indiana’s top priority before anything else. The third-year guard ranked second in assists per game this season while averaging a career-high 20.7 points on 62.4 percent true shooting. He made his first All-Star Game and had a season worthy of All-NBA on most years.
Haliburton is Indiana’s franchise player and he will likely be treated as such with a maximum contract offer. He is eligible to extend with the Pacers for up to five years, projected at $204 million. He could also receive provisions on his deal to receive a higher maximum salary, up to five years, projected at $244.8 million, if he meets the criteria like earning All-NBA honors next season.
Extension candidate: Buddy Hield
While Haliburton was the prize of the Domantas Sabonis trade, Buddy Hield has turned out to be a great contributor considering he was thrown into the deal. His 2022-23 season was a return to the form he had in his best year in Sacramento. While he remains one of the best three-point shot makers in the league, his efficiency jumped with his 42.5 percent mark ranking 9th in three-point percentage this past season. Once thought to be passing through Indiana to his next destination, he now could have a future here.
Hield is entering the final season of his four-year, $85 million extension he originally signed with the Kings. He will be extension-eligible throughout the 2023-24 season and he’s significantly raised his value since arriving in Indiana. In a rising salary cap environment, he could be looking at an annual salary range around what he’s currently making on his next contract.
The Pacers could also look to utilize a little-used mechanism that they just used on Myles Turner. If the Pacers are unable to acquire targets with their cap space or through uneven trades, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to use it to renegotiate and extend Hield’s contract. Such a framework could allow the Pacers to increase Hield’s 2023-24 salary followed by significantly lower cap hits in future seasons.
Here’s an example of a five-year, $74 million renegotiation and extension where Hield has his current salary increased to $30 million, followed by the maximum 40 percent salary decrease and 8 percent maximum annual decreases:
2023-24: $30,000,000 ($10.7 million raise)
2024-25: $18,000,000
2025-26: $16,560,000
2026-27: $15,120,000
2027-28: $13,680,000
This would allow the Pacers to retain Hield on a long-term, frontloaded contract while keeping their cap flexibility open in the short term.
2023-24 SALARY SITUATION
Players rostered: 15
Guaranteed salaries: $106.9 million
Non-guaranteed salaries: $0 million
Total salary: $106.9 million
Luxury tax space: $55.3 million
First apron space: $56.4 million
Second apron space: $67.9 million
Spending power:
Cap space: $27.3 million
Room mid-level exception: $7,609,000
Myles Turner
2023-24 salary: $20,975,000
Remaining salary guaranteed: $40,903,500 through 2024-25
Additional notes:
$1.5 million in annual unlikely incentives.
Buddy Hield
2023-24 salary: $19,279,841
Remaining salary guaranteed: $18,568,183
Additional notes:
Extension and renegotiation-and-extension eligible throughout 2023-24.
$711,660 in likely incentives, $2.8 million in unlikely incentives.
Daniel Theis
2023-24 salary: $9,108,386
Remaining salary guaranteed: $9,108,386
Additional notes:
2024-25 salary is a team option worth $9.5 million.
Extension-eligible throughout 2023-24.
TJ McConnell
2023-24 salary: $8,700,000
Remaining salary guaranteed: $13,700,000 through 2024-25
Additional notes:
2024-25 salary is partially guaranteed for $5 million.
$400,000 in unlikely annual incentives.
Extension-eligible during the 2023 offseason.
Bennedict Mathurin
2023-24 salary: $6,916,080
Remaining salary guaranteed: $23,349,373 through 2025-26
Tyrese Haliburton
2023-24 salary: $5,808,435
Remaining salary guaranteed: $5,808,435
Additional notes:
Eligible for rookie-scale extension during the 2023 offseason for up to five years.
Aaron Nesmith
2023-24 salary: $5,634,257
Remaining salary guaranteed: $5,634,257
Additional notes:
Eligible for rookie-scale extension during the 2023 offseason for up to five years.
Jalen Smith
2023-24 salary: $5,043,773
Remaining salary guaranteed: $10,461,159 through 2024-25
Additional notes:
2024-25 salary is a player option worth $5.4 million.
10 percent trade bonus currently worth $504,377.
Chris Duarte
2023-24 salary: $4,124,400
Remaining salary guaranteed: $10,018,168 through 2024-25
Jordan Nwora
2023-24 salary: $3,000,000
Remaining salary guaranteed: $3,000,000
Additional notes:
$200,000 in unlikely incentives.
Isaiah Jackson
2023-24 salary: $2,696,280
Remaining salary guaranteed: $7,131,661 through 2024-25
Andrew Nembhard
2023-24 salary: $2,131,905
Remaining salary guaranteed: $4,151,604 through 2025-26
Additional notes:
2025-26 salary is a team option worth $2.2 million.
George Hill
Cap hold: $5,200,000
Type of free agent: Early Bird (unrestricted)
Oshae Brissett
Cap hold: $1,989,698
Type of free agent: Bird (unrestricted)
Additional notes:
Can avoid free agency and extend with the Pacers by June 30.
James Johnson
Cap hold: $1,989,698
Type of free agent: Non Bird (unrestricted)
Kendall Brown
Cap hold: $1,774,999
Type of free agent: Non Bird (restricted)
2022 Pick No. 7
2023-24 salary: $6,516,000
Remaining salary guaranteed: $29,628,220 through 2026-27
Additional notes: HoopsHype and ForTheWin’s draft expert Bryan Kalbrosky has Taylor Hendricks as the 7th overall selection in his most recent mock draft.
2023 Pick No. 26
2023-24 salary: $2,499,480
Remaining salary guaranteed: $12,829,768 through 2026-27
Additional notes: HoopsHype and ForTheWin’s draft expert Bryan Kalbrosky has Bilal Coulibaly as the 26th overall selection in his most recent mock draft.
2023 Pick No. 29
2023-24 salary: $2,394,960
Remaining salary guaranteed: $12,299,276 through 2026-27
Additional notes: HoopsHype and ForTheWin’s draft expert Bryan Kalbrosky has Colby Jones as the 29th overall selection in his most recent mock draft.
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