25-under-25: Tyrese Haliburton is the show that never ends

Tyrese Haliburton ranked No. 3 on The Step Back's 2023-24 25-under-25, ranking the best young players in the NBA. Check out the rest of the list here.

I wrote the profile of Tyrese Haliburton for last year's list as well — he was ranked No. 14 — and at that point, I was working hard not to get too excited. Reading it back now, I feel like I was constantly grasping for something tangible, trying to talk myself into seeing him as something concrete, an ever-so-slightly non-traditional point guard defined more by what he did than who he did it. At the time I said:

"But Haliburton feels different. His talent and potential feel more complete, more established. He is young, but polished. His two-way talent, his optimism about the future of the Pacers and his enthusiasm for being a key part of it. It all feels Midwestern, brick-and-mortar."

Twelve months later, I'm happy to share that I have shed any sense of Haliburton-induced propriety. I am wearing white overall jorts, with only one strap done, over a faded Jason Williams Kings jersey, and rocking some game-worn, late 80s Rod Strickland Reeboks I found on Heritage Auction, with ski goggles and one of those helmets with hoses and two cup holders on either side. One side has a maple milkshake, the other has a Grapefruit Jungle from Sun King.

All that is to say, I am all the way in on Tyrese Haliburton and I want to see him let his point guard freak flag fly.

Tyrese Haliburton

Injuries limited Haliburton to just 56 games last season but he was absolutely phenomenal, and impressive enough to make his first All-Star team, despite the missed time. He averaged 20.7 points, 10.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game on 49/40/87 shooting splits. That's his first full season as a starting point guard, averaging 20/10 and seriously flirting with both the league-lead in assists and a 50/40/90 season.

But the most important takeaway is that Haliburton is not conventional. I was wrong about that. And what we've learned in the past year is that he's both good enough and unique enough to create something entirely his own, to grow a team around his own will and personality — the way Steve Nash did with the fastbreak and SSOL Suns, the way Chris Paul did with his OCD and the Lob City Clippers, the way John Stockton did with the pick-and-roll-and-then-a-warm-glass-of-milk Utah Jazz, the way Jason Kidd did with his rapid outlet passes and the obscene dunkability of the Richard Jefferson/Kenyon Martin Nets.

Now that I've cut my imagination loose, I'm seeing some hybrid of the Kidd's Nets and Nash's Suns. I mean, the average offensive possessions for the Pacers last season lasted 13.7 seconds, the third-fastest in the league and nearly a full-second faster than what the Pacers were doing the previous season before they traded for Haliburton. About a quarter of his assists — 138 in total, or about 2.5 per game — came within the first six seconds of a possession. Thanks in large part to his engine, the Pacers attempted 645 3-pointers in the first six seconds of a possession, nearly eight per game and the most in the league by a decent margin.

The man gets things moving.

And the Pacers seem to understand that with the roster moves they've made. Bruce Brown and Obi Toppin were born to run. Jarace Walker filled a huge two-way need at the 4 but he's also going to be a monster in transition. Trading Buddy Hield will hurt but watch if the Pacers don't prioritize quick-trigger shooting with their return.

Indiana is building something special. Some fast and fun. Something where players have the freedom to run wild, to discover the best versions of themselves and rediscover the joy of playing basketball as part of a collective sprinting in the same direction. It matters that Haliburton put up obscene numbers, but it also matters that they looked the part of a playoff team when he was on the court, that Buddy Hield became Buddy Hield again, that Myles Turner let bygones be bygones and signed an extension, that Aaron Nesmith might have turned into a rotation player and that Bennedict Mathurin had the support he needed to thrive from Day 1.

The Pacers are building something special. I have no idea what it is or what it's going to look like when it's done. But I can't wait to watch every minute of the process and that's because of Tyrese Haliburton.