The Indiana Pacers have officially brought back Pascal Siakam in free agency. The news was announced quite a long ago, but Indiana just officially announced it on Monday. Siakam is staying in Indy on a four-year max deal. He got his own press conference to announce the signing.
We knew Siakam was coming back, so this isn't necessarily news. It was strange that it took two days after the moratorium lifted to officially announce the signing, but that's neither here nor there. He's in Indy for the foreseeable future and wants to keep building with this Pacers team.
Siakam is now one of the core players on this team. His presence will be key for this team to make that leap that they are trying to make to the NBA Finals. His signing isn't just good for Indiana because of how good he is. It's good because of how good he makes others on the team too.
There are three players who will benefit the most from him being in Indiana next season. They all are players who are helped by Siakam's presence on the floor. All of them played better when he became part of the team last season. The first of those players is the other most important player on the team.
1. Tyrese Haliburton
Tyrese Haliburton is the NBA's best passer. He led the league in assists this year and makes everyone around him better. His pass-first mentality is what makes him so special when comparing him to other superstars. Haliburton wants to make everyone else involved in the game before he gets going.
Adding Siakam gave him a pick-and-roll partner that he didn't have before. Myles Turner is more of a pick-and-pop center. When he does roll, it's more of a short roll. The Pacers didn't have anyone who could roll anyone who could roll to the hoop and get a bucket inside.
Siakam gives Haliburton that partner. He is someone who can get almost any kind of hoop at the bucket that he wants. His ability to score inside is uncanny. That's not the only value he provides to Haliburton though. He does more than that on offense.
Siakam is also another player who can hit shots at the end of the shot clock when the offense bogs down. He's also the only other starter besides Haliburton who can consistently create his own shot. The Pacers desperately need a secondary shot-creator like him.
Haliburton needs a second star to be able to grow with. Siakam is that star player. He's won a championship before and has made an All-NBA team, just as Haliburton has. He's a great player that will make things easier for Haliburton as he continues to grow.
The second player on this list is Siakam's running mate in the frontcourt.
2. Myles Turner
No other member in the starting lineup was helped more with Siakam's arrival in Indiana than Myles Turner. He had his best offensive season as a pro and a lot of that was due to Siakam's new involvement with the team. Once he got there, Turner's game really opened up.
Turner was excellent after the All-Star break once Siakam was in town and Haliburton was healthy enough to play again. He shot a blistering 41.5% on catch-and-shoot threes in that time. Those are the type of shots he's able to generate with a guy who makes the paint collapse like Siakam does.
Prior to the All-Star break, he was shooting just 35% in those scenarios. In fact, all of Turner's shooting splits ticked up after the All-Star break. Siakam coming into town was a big reason for him having the best offensive season of his career and he even helped him defensively a bit.
While Turner's defense has slipped a bit in recent years, Siakam's presence helped with that too. The length that he provides on the wing prevents Turner from having to clean up as many messes at the rim as he did last year and this year pre-Siakam arriving.
Turner should continue to flourish next year. He's the perfect three-and-D center that the league covets and he fits around Siakam and Haliburton perfectly. On offense, he's the third-most important player that the Pacers have.
The final member on this list is actually the best player on the bench.
3. T.J. McConnell
T.J. McConnell was a great player all year once he found himself back in the rotation. He was always controlling the tempo on offense and making things tough on defenses, even before the Siakam trade. Once Siakam got to Indy, things went to a whole new level.
That's especially true once Carlisle started staggering the rotation so that Siakam would play with the second unit. The numbers really picked up for McConnell in the playoffs when that was happening. He went from averaging just over 10 points per game in the regular season to almost 12 in the postseason.
With Siakam on the floor with him, McConnell isn't the only shot creator on the floor. If things bog down in the half-court, he has someone he can dump it to in order to create a good shot. McConnell was able to be a more effective passer with Siakam out there as well.
Siakam likes playing with both Haliburton and McConnell in separate stints. When he's with McConnell, he gets to be the primary option on offense. When he's with Haliburton, he's able to get more open shots because he has more effective offensive weapons around him.
McConnell is likely going to get an extension at some point this summer. He'll enjoy playing alongside Siakam during those bench minutes and vice versa. He's another player who sure is glad that Siakam decided to continue to make Indianapolis his home.