Pacers hope this star guard doesn’t make an All-NBA team

Haliburton signed a five-year rookie extension last summer which kicks in next year starting at 25% of the salary cap, around $35.2M. But if he makes any of the three All-NBA teams, his contract starts at 30% of the cap, $42.3M. Considering the contract also calls for 8% annual raises, that's a difference of over $40M over the life of the deal.

That's fine if Haliburton was the kind of player he was to start the season. But since the All-Star break, he's been fairly pedestrian. He's averaging 17.3 points, 9.6 assists and four rebounds, while making only 30% of his three-pointers. In the Bucks series, he's averaging just 10.5 points, though with 10 assists.

Maybe he's still hampered by a hamstring injury, one he admittedly rushed back from so he'd play enough games to qualify for the All-NBA team and the extra money. Maybe he misses having sharpshooter Buddy Hield on the perimeter opening things up, or scorer Bennedict Mathurin, out for the season with a torn labrum.

With Pascal Siakam likely getting a big contract from the Pacers in free agency, giving Haliburton the extra $8M per year limits Indiana's payroll flexibility. They're both excellent players, but if they can't beat a Milwaukee team missing Giannis Antetokounmpo, Indiana may worry about the ceiling of a team built around the Haliburton-Siakam duo.

All this means that there will be an unusual amount of interest in the All-NBA third team this season, both from Haliburton, his agents and the Pacers front office.