Tyrese Haliburton checks in with Team USA, Summer Pacers begin prep in Indy
Tyrese Haliburton checks in with Team USA, Summer Pacers begin prep in Indy
The Pacers also officially sign James Wiseman and added Keisei Tominaga on an Exhibit 10 deal on Friday.
Hopefully, everyone in the Pacers org had a relaxing Fourth of July, because they were plenty busy on Friday, from the front office to the players on the court.
Tyrese Haliburton spent his Independence Day being seen in the Hamptons at Michael Rubin’s cringy ‘White Party’ where all the stars appear to show up for the ‘Gram above all else. From there, Haliburton flew to Las Vegas on Friday to check in for the first day with the USA Basketball as they prepare for the Paris Olympics
From the moment Haliburton was named to Team USA, the opportunity to train and play with all of the elite veteran stars on the roster seemed like a huge opportunity for the Pacers young star. After watching the arrival videos USA Basketball put out and seeing the players and interactions as they greeted each other?
WOW!
Spending a month with this group of players and coaching staff is going to be incredible for Haliburton. He used his experience last summer when he emerged from a much young group of players as a key contributor as a springboard into an incredible start to the season. While he won’t play as much, a month of workouts both as a group and individually with different players plus all of the connections and conversations will offer yet another edge in Haliburton’s development as the face of the Pacers. Check out the dap fest as players arrived in Vegas.
At the other end of the Pacers playing rotation, the Summer Pacers were getting in some runs at the Ascension St. Vincent Center on Friday. Ben Sheppard, Jarace Walker and Kendall Brown among those getting in work as the deem documented via social media.
The Pacers officially tip of ‘Summer Camp’ today (July 6) through Tuesday before heading out to join Haliburton in Vegas for their Summer League games which begin on Friday night against the Summer Nets. Here is the schedule, thus far:
July 12 vs Brooklyn, 8 p.m. EST, NBA TV
July 14 vs Minnesota, 5:30 p.m. EST, NBA TV
July 16 vs Phoenix, 4 p.m. EST, ESPNU
July 18 vs Denver, 4:30 p.m. EST, ESPN2
No concerns about Ben Sheppard’s play in Vegas, but it does offer the second-year player a chance to be a focal point on the court when he plays and work on leading the team when he’s on and off the court. Much the same for Jarace Walker, although seeing what Walker can do in a position he’s expected to be needed next season is of high interest. So often, last season in his mop up duty time, Walker played all over the place including point guard. While impressive, his early career impact needs to be at the 3-4 spot with a focus on defense and rebounding.
On Friday, the Pacers officially signed James Wiseman to a 2-year, minimum contract. As Tony East reported, Wiseman’s contract is partially guaranteed for the first year ($2 mil-ish) and has a team option for the second year. Great opportunity for Wiseman to secure an open role with the Pacers and on the other side, a wise move by the Pacers to see what they can extract from the athletic big man going forward.
Former Nebraska guard, Keisei Tominaga signed an Exhibit 10 contract on Friday, as well. If all the Pacers did was watch Tominaga’s games against Purdue and IU this past season, they may have drafted him instead of Johnny Furphy. Tominaga made 17 of 35 from three land combined in one game against Purdue and three against IU, all wins for Nebraska.
It seemed like Tominaga didn’t miss in any of those games and certainly got hot to fuel major runs for the wins. For the season, the 6’2 guard from Nagoya, Japan shot 37.6 percent from behind the arc. Tominaga could be an entertaining addition to the Mad Ants this season, but will not be in Vegas for Summer League as he is playing with Japan in international play.