Indiana Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton and Malcolm Brogdon’s fit in Indiana

The Indiana Pacers traded away two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis for Tyrese Haliburton. A drastic change to the roster was made at the deadline by the front office signaling a new direction of Pacers basketball.

The Pacers aren’t playing for the playoffs and are instead playing to figure out a new roster.

Tyrese Haliburton’s abilities draw questions as to his fit alongside Malcolm Brogdon, who the Pacers recently extended for two more seasons. Can the two share the floor productively with the Indiana Pacers?

We have only seen a three-game sample of these two sharing the court, but in those three games, the Pacers have two wins and one loss. In the short sample we have of the two together, their scoring output has been rather good.

In fact in last night’s victory against the Orlando Magic, Malcolm Brogdon scored his season-high of 31 points. Along with that, he nearly completed the triple-double, notching 11 rebounds and 8 assists.

I think the question of his Achilles’ health should be put to rest, he was rather aggressive in attacking the rim Wednesday night and was able to convert tough layups down the stretch.

Of course, he did miss the potential game-winning layup, but the Pacers grabbed the win regardless.

Over his last three games and since returning from over a month-long absence, Brogdon’s output has been consistently better in each game played. Getting the rust off after that time out certainly played a factor in returning to his high-level play.

He is currently averaging 22 points per game, 7 rebounds, and 5.7 assists while shooting 53.3% from behind the arc on 5.0 attempts per game. That is incredible.

Rick Carlisle has tried a few methods of getting Brogdon in different situations than he was used to prior to Haliburton. Namely staggering Brogdon to play with the second unit, which we saw right away against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Tyrese Haliburton can really fit anywhere on this roster with his style of play. Defensively, he has been awesome for the Pacers, being able to get a steal in each game he has played so far. He averages 2.1 per game, which leads the team.

Plays like this are exciting because of the situation and the players are on the floor. At this point in the game, you have Haliburton and Brogdon with Hield and Jackson to try and finish the 18 point comeback.

After a great defensive possession by Haliburton (the Pacers are 25th in defensive rating), Brogdon is able to get in transition and find Haliburton to tie the game in overtime. Nice to see success for the Pacers in late-game situations and do so with their young group on the floor.

"After the game concluded Rick Carlise spoke on Brogdon. ” (He was) the best player on the floor tonight. He’s our old pro. The best all-around player on our team, and when he plays, it’s a different ballgame”."

Haliburton’s defensive presence has been a welcome sight, but his offensive output has been just as good. Since joining the Indiana Pacers, he averages 19.6 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, and 9.6 assists while shooting 43.9% from three on 7.1 attempts. That sounds… good?

Unfortunately, the Pacers have just over a month more of a sample for this duo before going into the offseason.

The Indiana Pacers sit with a record of 22-42 and if the win total stays where it is now, it would be the team’s third-worst season in franchise history. Luckily for Indiana, there is much to look forward to in this duo and the future of the team.

A busy offseason ahead for this Pacers front office and hopefully some luck in the draft lottery, unless Haliburton and Brogdon continue to improve as they have in each game thus far.

For now, these two seem to be gelling rather well, and although it is too late in the season for wins to matter, they can still prove they are a winning backcourt. Hopefully, they don’t prove it that well for the Pacers’ lottery chances this season.