Tyrese Haliburton had an excellent 2023-24 season with the Indiana Pacers and was rewarded for it with a spot on Team USA’s roster for the 2024 Olympics. While Haliburton might have hoped to play a significant role for the team as part of the second unit, it appears head coach Steve Kerr has already taken him out of the rotation.
The U.S. played in five exhibition games prior to the Olympics and Haliburton saw his minutes go down with each passing game. Here is a look at how Kerr has slowly but surely taken the star guard out of the rotation.
Against Canada, Haliburton played 20 minutes and put up 2 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block as the U.S. won 86-72. He had a game-high plus-minus of +17 and it appeared as if he was going to play a prominent role on the team.
Then in the 98-92 win over Australia, Haliburton played 18 minutes and recorded 6 points, 1 rebound, and 2 assists. So far so good, but Derrick White’s introduction into the rotation after this game was about to change that.
Haliburton played 14 minutes in Team USA’s 105-79 win over Serbia in their third game. The 24-year-old only put up 1 rebound, 3 assists, and 1 steal in that time, as his role started to diminish.
The U.S. played South Sudan next and Haliburton saw his time on the court cut in half, as he played just seven minutes. The two-time All-Star recorded just one rebound as the team won 101-100. Then in the final exhibition game against Germany, Haliburton never even stepped out on the court as Team USA won 92-88.
While Haliburton has played just seven minutes over these last two games, White has played 25. It is clear that Kerr values his defense over the Pacers guard’s offense.
I do get that line of thinking, but without Haliburton, that second unit just doesn’t have a proper playmaker. Anthony Edwards was running the offense for that unit against Germany and the results weren’t great.
I think Haliburton, who won the NBA assists title last season by averaging 10.9 assists per game, needs to be out there with that second unit, or else the offense will continue to sputter. Yes, he is not a good defender by any means, but there are enough good ones around him to cover for that.
I don’t see Kerr putting Haliburton back in the rotation at this point, however. Kevin Durant didn’t feature in any of these five games due to a calf injury and once he is back, there are going to be even fewer minutes available for the guard.
With how star-studded this roster is, it was inevitable that some big names weren’t going to get time on the court and Haliburton appears to be one of them. While he would be disappointed by that, I don’t see him causing any problems over it.
Any sort of internal strife appears unlikely to me, but there are issues on the court that need to be sorted out. These last two games against South Sudan and Germany were a bit of a wake-up call for Team USA, as they could have easily lost both. Those were just exhibition games, but this team was expected to steamroll the competition and it doesn’t look like they will.
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