Which Pacers players have the best shot to play in the Olympics?

With the 2024 Summer Olympic Games fast approaching, there are several names floating out there to make the final cut. The roster may only carry four or five guards as it did in 2020. Those names included Jrue Holiday, Zach LaVine, Damian Lillard, and Devin Booker. A Pacers guard played this past Summer in the FIFA World Cup and is hoping to be playing in France too.

Tyrese Haliburton will face some stiff competition from the field as some of those names look to earn a spot on the Team USA roster. Some other players at the guard spot he's competing with are Trae Young, Donovan Mitchell, De'Aaron Fox, and more. Looking back to four years ago, this is how the five guards on the 2020 Team USA squad performed during the 2019-2020 NBA season.

Holiday averaged 19.1 points and 6.7 assists a game during the 2019-2020 NBA Season. He averaged 1.3 points and 1 full assist more the year before.

LaVine, who has been hurt the majority of this season, averaged 25.5 points per game four seasons ago. He also was reliable for 4.2 assists and 4.8 rebounds a game.

One year later, all three (points, rebounds and assists) saw a slight spike upward. LaVine's field goal, three-point and free throw percentages all went up the next season, too.

Lillard, also currently in his 30's like Holliday, averaged 30.0 points and 8.0 assists a contest in 2019-2020. Bradley Beal dropped out due to COVID-19 that summer after averaging 30.5 points and 6.1 assists with the Wizards.

The final guard's name from Team USA is Booker who averaged 26.6 points a game in both 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. His best field goal percentage came in 2019-2020 with an impressive 91.9%.

How do Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton's numbers compare?

Last year, in his first full season with the Indiana Pacers (and as a starter), Haliburton averaged 20.7 points, 10.4 assists and shot 49% from the field. He is scoring 20.8 points per game this season with an increase in his assists to 11.3 a game.

Haliburton also boasts a significantly lower turnover average in his games played. At an average of only 2.3 turnovers a game, the next closest is LaVine at 2.6 and Holiday at 2.7 in games played.

The Pacers guard is also only 24 years old. He is younger than Young, Mitchell, and Fox while also holding a slightly higher field goal percentage and assists per game average than all three of those fellow hopefuls.

Haliburton's talents and ability to excel have already been on display in three major platforms within the 2023-2024 NBA Season. The Pacers' point guard was a huge reason why Indiana earned a berth in the Inaugural In-Season Tournament.

In the first round against Boston, Haliburton produced 26 points making ten of his 18 shots from the field. He also recorded 10 rebounds and 13 assists without a single turnover. That's right, a triple-double against the league's best team (record-wise).

In the next round, Haliburton netted 27 points on 11 of 19 field goals. He was an even distributor with 15 assists and still pulled in seven boards against Milwaukee, another Eastern Conference powerhouse.

Despite not winning in the Finals against the Lakers, Haliburton had 21 points and 11 assists with his first (and only) three turnovers in the In-Season Tournament Bracket. The All-Star has still shined elsewhere.

Haliburton not only was a part of the three-man squad that won the Skills Contest (along with Bennedict Mathurin and Myles Turner). He showed he is ready for the biggest stages in the sport. During the 2024 All-Star Game, he led the East in their win with 32 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

Perhaps the next stage Haliburton shines on a stage that big is the opening game for Team USA in this year's Summer Olympics if not the NBA Playoffs. Although he's struggled a bit recently, he might finally be pulling himself out of that slump. In short, there is a strong chance Haliburton makes the final 12 (Odds: 17:3 or 85%). It would be nice to see the Indiana Pacers have an Olympic representative.