“One of my favorite players in the NBA right now is T.J. McConnell… he’s like Draymond [Green] as a point guard.”
That was LeBron James this past year, talking about Pacers reserve guard McConnell — and the Pacers feel the same way. Indiana and McConnell have agreed to a four-year, $45 million extension, a story broken by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and confirmed by his agent.
McConnell is arguably the best backup point guard in the league. His four new years come after this current one at $9.5 million, keeping McConnell with the Pacers through 2029 — which matches up with Tyrese Haliburton‘s max extension from a summer ago at five years, $244.6 million — meaning McConnell will be Haliburton’s backup for the foreseeable future.
It isn’t just McConnell, the Pacers are choosing to lock up their core, having worked out extensions this summer with Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard and Obi Toppin. That core led the Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals a season ago and McConnell was a big part of that. He averaged 10.2 points a game, shot 40.9% from 3, and he is a scrappy defender who is a pest to opposing guards (be careful throwing inbound passes around him).
Can that core get the Pacers back to the Eastern Conference Finals and beyond in a conference where Boston remains the team to beat, but some of the teams chasing it — Philadelphia, New York — got better this summer? That Pacers core is going to have to take a step forward next season to make that happen.