The Tyrese Haliburton trade looks better by the day for the Pacers

The Indiana Pacers were stuck in the middle. They kept making the playoffs but lost in the first round. Pretty soon after that, they stopped making the playoffs at all. They needed a new direction and a new player to start building around. The Turbonis frontcourt wasn't it.

Kevin Pritchard shook up the basketball world right before the trade deadline in the 2021-22 season. He traded Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, and Justin Holiday for a player that many didn't even know was available. They landed Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson.

Thompson played just two games for Indiana before being waived. Haliburton and Hield were major pieces, particularly Haliburton. The Pacers quickly found out that they had a point guard who was a superstar. They could build around him and build a contender quickly.

Tyrese Haliburton has sped up the timeline for the Pacers

The Pacers made a surprise trip to the Eastern Conference Finals this season in large part thanks to Haliburton. Despite the fact that he was clearly never fully healthy after hurting his hamstring in January, he still fought back to get Indiana into the Final Four.

Haliburton is the rare pass-first point guard whowants to set up his teammates for success more than look for his own shot, sometimes to his own detriment. That's something that will attract other players to Indiana. It's one of the big reasons why Pascal Siakam is likely re-signing with the team.

There is still one big thing that Haliburton needs to work on for him to be a truly dynamic superstar. If his defense can get better, he can truly be a top-ten player in the NBA. He already has made his first All-NBA team after making Third-team All-NBA this year.

Haliburton has proven that he can be the best player on a championship team. Because of that great trade, the Pacers are now title contenders sooner than anyone in the NBA thought they could be. It's a testament to his greatness.