It’s safe to say that Tyrese Haliburton is excited the Indiana Pacers acquired Obi Toppin from the New York Knicks. After ESPN reported that the Pacers traded for Toppin, Haliburton sent out a funny tweet.
Toppin is one of the best dunkers in the NBA. He won the 2022 Slam Dunk Contest and can jump out of the gym. The Pacers project to be a good fit for Toppin since they have one of the best young point guards in the NBA in Haliburton. The 23-year-old averaged 20.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists this past season while shooting 49.0% from the field, 40.0% from beyond the arc and 87.1% from the free-throw line.
Haliburton recorded 32 double-doubles in 56 games last season. He will likely get Toppin a lot of easy looks in the half-court and in transition since he’s a proficient floor general.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin & Indiana Pacers Updates
The Knicks acquired two future second-round picks from the Pacers, who signed Haliburton to a rookie-scale extension and Bruce Brown in unrestricted free agency. Toppin has career averages of 7.0 points and 3.0 rebounds. He was behind Julius Randle in the Knicks’ rotation and wanted more playing time.
Hopefully, Toppin has a better relationship with Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle than he did with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, Toppin and Thibodeau got into an intense verbal altercation during the 2023 playoffs. The incident happened after the Knicks lost Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Miami Heat.
“According to league sources who were present, once the final buzzer sounded Toppin aired his grievances to Thibodeau,” Katz wrote. “The 24-year-old wants to play, and he wants to win. That evening, neither happened. An intense verbal altercation occurred between the player and coach as the group trekked to the Kaseya Center visiting locker room in Miami. It spilled into the postgame meeting once the doors closed.”
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin & Indiana Pacers Updates
The Pacers haven’t made the playoffs since 2020. It will be fascinating to see if Haliburton and Toppin can guide Indiana back to the postseason in 2024.
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