A big reason the Indiana Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals was their strong bench.
McConnell’s New Contract:
The leader of that bench, T.J. McConnell, is staying in Indiana for a long time.
Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell has agreed on a four-year, $45 million extension, Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman of @PrioritySports tell ESPN. Deal takes total worth of McConnellโs contract to $54M over five years.
โ Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)
Playoff Performance:
Last season in the playoffs, McConnell averaged 11.8 points and 5.1 assists in 17 games with nearly one steal per game and just 1.2 turnovers per game! He was great alongside Tyrese Haliburton who played through leg injuries.
In the series-clinching win over the Milwaukee Bucks, McConnell scored 20 points off the bench.
TJ McConnell has 20 PTS off the bench
โ NBA (@NBA)
Background and Fit:
McConnell joined the Pacers as a free agent in 2019 after playing four seasons with Philadelphia. Heโs been a steady hand for this young team.
Fans love how he fits so well with this squad!
Only Malik Monk had more assists off the bench last season than McConnell. In fact, he’s only the second player in NBA history to average better than ten points and five assists off the bench during playoffs besides Michael Cooper.
The New Deal:
McConnellโs new deal gives him an eight percent raise on his $9.3M salary for next season which was only partially guaranteed before this extension through to 2028-29! This means heโll earn around $90M by then โ not bad for someone who went undrafted out of college!
This new contract ensures most key players are locked up long-term: Haliburton till ’29; Siakam; Nembhard; Toppin till ’28; Nesmith three more seasons; Mathurin; Sheppard & Walker still under rookie contracts… Only Myles Turner remains on short-term deal becoming unrestricted free agent next summer but rest core set thanks smart front office moves anticipating rising salary cap due leagueโs new TV deal
Shooting Weakness:
While his outside shooting isn’t great โ less than one attempt per game โ he has made over forty percent past two seasons which seems good enough considering everything else brings table plus killer bench unit
