Why a $260-million contract took Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers 20 minutes to negotiate

INDIANAPOLIS -- The negotiations for Tyrese Haliburton's max contract extension took less than 20 minutes.

Haliburton was out to dinner in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. Pacific time when the clock struck midnight on the East Coast, meaning it was July 1 at NBA headquarters. Haliburton had to step outside to take a call with Pacers' brass, his agents, and his parents.

Within 20 minutes the word was out that Haliburton had agreed to a max contract extension, a five-year deal worth at least $206 million that could bump up as high as $260 million if he makes an All-NBA team and becomes eligible to be paid at 30% of the salary cap as opposed to 25%. There are no options for either side and the extension kicks in with the 2024-25 season.

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There was no drama because Haliburton had long made it clear that he wanted to embrace being the centerpiece and even a partner in the Pacers' franchise and the Pacers had made it clear that they would pay as much as it took to keep him.

"He has changed the trajectory of this organization," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of Haliburton on Thursday at a press conference in Gainbridge Fieldhouse. "... This is a no-brainer."

But as obvious of a decision as it was for both sides, Thursday's formal announcement of the extension was also an opportunity for the team and player to bask in what they've already accomplished together. It allowed Haliburton to think about how far he's come from being a skinny kid from Oshkosh, Wis., who was underrecruited until late in his high school career when the Power 5 school started calling and it allowed the Pacers and Haliburton to commit to a future in which Haliburton is not just an employee but a partner in the franchise's success.

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Haliburton had some emotional moments. He's mostly been playful on social media since the extension was announced, and the life-long professional wrestling fan posted a video not long after the announcement of the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase in several clips throwing his head back and laughing, generally with money somewhere in the picture. But he seemed generally surprised and proud before his press conference as the Pacers played video of his highlights on the giant video board at center court, especially with Motorhead's "The Game" -- the theme song for Triple H, one of Haliburton's favorite wrestlers -- playing over it.

And Haliburton held back tears when he thanked his father, John, who first brought Tyrese to a basketball court when he was coaching middle school girls, and his mother, Brenda, who never missed a game until he was in college and she had a flight to Lubbock, Texas cancelled.

"My mom has been my everything to get here," Haliburton said. "I can't even put into words to explain everything, but I'm just really appreciative of you, mom."

Carlisle and Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard were a little less emotional but not by much, describing not only what Haliburton had done to give the Pacers an on-court identity with his uptempo style and magician's touch on his passes, but also the way he's connected with not only his teammates but everyone else in the organization.

"Sometimes in this business, you get great players," Pritchard said. "Sometimes in this business, you get great humans. And then sometimes you get both. We have both with Ty."

Even before the contract extension, the Pacers have been trying to get the most out of Haliburton the person as much as they've worked on getting the most out of him as a player. He represented the Pacers at the NBA Draft Lottery in May and showed up at almost every draft workout the Pacers held in June. When free agency hit, he was the first person to call guard Bruce Brown to suggest he sign with the Pacers, and Brown was on board within the hour. Pritchard, Carlisle and others bounced ideas off Haliburton and got ideas back from him, and he was on board with all of the moves from the draft through the trades they made that weren't yet ready to be made public on Thursday.

"It means the world that they allow me to do that," Haliburton said. "But it's a lot of fun for me, honestly. This is my life. I love watching basketball at every level. It's been fun. Every pre-draft workout I was here for. I'll be at Summer League for most of the games. It's just my thing, man. I just want to be involved with a lot of decisions and I want to be involved in helping, just bringing the right people around. I believe at the end of the day, I have to make it work as well."

But for as big of a responsibility as he's been given, he said he doesn't believe it adds more pressure or expectations than he already had. He wants more than the 20.7 points and 10.4 assists he recorded last year and he wants the Pacers to be a playoff team in 2023-24, but that was how he viewed his goals before the contract.

"My biggest thing is I just want to be the best version of myself," Haliburton said. "I don't know what that is yet, but I'm excited to find out. I don't really worry about things like that. My biggest thing is that I want to make this organization happy. I think the Simon family and this organization obviously have put a lot of trust in me by giving me this money. I just want to make them proud and make my family proud. That's all I really care about. The way to do that is to win."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers: Why it took Tyrese Haliburton 20 minutes to sign for $260 million