Pacers, Heat stars become eligible for postseason awards

Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton met the 65-game criteria on Friday against Oklahoma City, making him eligible for postseason awards, such as All-NBA.

Counting the in-season tournament final, it was technically Haliburton’s 66th game, but the one on Jan. 8 — when he sustained a hamstring injury against Boston — didn’t count toward the 65-game rule because he played fewer than 15 minutes.

It’s a noteworthy benchmark for both Haliburton and Indiana, which gave the 24-year-old a five-year, rookie scale max extension last summer. That deal, which begins in 2024-25, features Rose rule language — if he makes one of the three All-NBA teams, he’ll earn 30 percent of next season’s salary cap instead of 25 percent.

Haliburton’s extension is currently projected to be worth $204.5M over five years. If he makes an All-NBA team, the projection would increase to $245.3M.

As Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star writes, Haliburton has a legitimate shot at All-NBA, with averages of 20.3 PPG, 3.9 RPG, a league-best 11.0 APG, and 1.2 SPG on .476/.368/.861 shooting through 64 games (32.2 MPG). He holds the third-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the NBA at 4.85-to-1, and is the best player on a team that is currently the No. 6 seed in the East at 44-34.

At one point, it seemed like Haliburton would be a shoo-in for All-NBA, as he was averaging 24.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG and 12.7 APG on .496/.404/.868 shooting in 32 games prior to the injury. While he’s played better recently, his post-injury numbers aren’t on the same level, with averages of 17.0 PPG, 3.6 RPG and 9.4 APG on .449/.324/.850 shooting in 31 games.

In addition to facing stiff competition amongst his peers, 2023-24 is the first season that the All-NBA teams will be voted on without regard to position, Dopirak notes. It remains to be seen whether that will impact Haliburton’s case.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, Magic guard Jalen Suggs and Heat center Bam Adebayo also met the 65-game criteria on Friday. A three-time All-Star who has finished fourth or fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting each of the past four seasons, Adebayo would be eligible for a super-max extension if he makes an All-NBA team or wins DPOY, though both scenarios seem fairly unlikely.

Suggs is a stout defender, though he’s still on his rookie scale contract and won’t be financially impacted even if he makes one of the two All-Defensive teams. The No. 4 pick of the 2021 draft will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason.