Report: Tyrese Haliburton Signed off on Pacers' Pascal Siakam Trade with Raptors

Tyrese Haliburton may only be 23 years old, but his ascent to superstar status has made him so important to the Indiana Pacers that they sought his input before making the deal to acquire Pascal Siakam.

Per The Athletic's Sam Amick, Haliburton gave the Pacers a "hearty thumbs-up" when they presented him with the idea of playing with the two-time All-Star.

The Pacers sent Bruce Brown Jr., Jordan Nwora, two 2024 first-round draft picks and a conditional 2026 first-round pick to the Toronto Raptors for Siakam. The New Orleans Pelicans were also involved in the deal, sending Kira Lewis to Toronto and a future second-round pick to Indiana.

This type of deal is very uncharacteristic for the Pacers, but it's an indication of how strongly the front office believes in what this roster is capable of doing.

Even though Siakam is set to become a free agent this offseason and he's eligible for a five-year, $247 million contract, but ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski noted there is optimism a deal can be reached.

Few teams have been more fun to watch this NBA season than the Pacers. They are on pace to have the highest offensive rating in league history at 122.1 through 40 games. Their 125.6 points per game is the second-best all-time, trailing only the 126.5 mark from the 1981-82 Denver Nuggets.

Of course, the Pacers have needed every bit of that offensive output because their defense is not good. They have the fifth-worst defensive rating (120.0) and allow the second-most points per game (123.5).

Haliburton hasn't played since Jan. 8 due to a strained left hamstring. The Pacers' offensive production has slipped to 113.0 points per contest in four games without the All-Star guard.

The addition of Siakam gives the Pacers another proven scoring option. He's averaging 22.2 points per game on 52.2 percent shooting from the field this season. The 29-year-old has averaged more than 20 points per game every season since 2019-20.

Siakam's size and length will also make him extremely valuable on defense, where Myles Turner is the only capable player on that end of the court the Pacers have had. Siakam is capable of defending three different positions and is effective on or off the ball.

The Pacers (23-17) are currently the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference, but there is only 1.5 games separating them from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the fourth spot.