Pacers' T.J. McConnell gets $45 million contract extension after strong finish to last season

Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell has agreed to a four-year, $45 million contract extension, his agents Mark Bartelstein and Andy Shiffman, told Adrian Wojnarowski .

McConnell, 32, was one of the league's best reserves last season and went on an absolute tear toward the end of the season. In his last 31 games (from Feb. 6 onward), he averaged 24.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 10.1 assists per 36 minutes and shot 58.2% from the field (in 19.4 minutes per game).

During the Pacers' playoff run to the Eastern Conference finals, McConnell continued coming up big: He had 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting, nine assists and four steals in Indiana's series-clinching Game 6 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, recorded two double-doubles against the New York Knicks in the second round and put up 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists in Game 3 of the conference finals against the Boston Celtics .

It was not written in stone that McConnell would have a big role during the 2023-24 season, nor that the franchise would sign him to a long-term deal heading into the following one. Before the Pacers' regular-season opener last October, coach Rick Carlisle told McConnell that he wouldn't be in the rotation. Carlisle was "almost in tears" at the time, the coach later told reporters, describing it as "one of the most difficult conversations I've ever had with a player," per the Indianapolis Star .

McConnell is something of an anomaly in today's NBA . He's a 6-foot-1 guard who rarely shoots 3-pointers -- in his last two seasons, he has shot a cumulative 44 for 103 from deep; per-minute, Jonas Valanciunas attempted 3s much more frequently -- and makes up for his lack of size by being a big-time pest defensively. McConnell pushes the pace exactly the way Indiana wants, and his pick-and-roll game works because he's an excellent passer and a threat to make a pull-up 2 or finish in the paint. McConnell has shot 50% or better from midrange in three of the past four seasons, and he shot a career-high 69% at the rim last season, according to Cleaning The Glass.

After going undrafted in 2015, McConnell spent the first four seasons of his career with the Philadelphia 76ers . He signed a two-year deal with the Pacers in 2019 and re-signed for another four years in 2021. This extension will keep him under contract through the 2028-29 season, at which point he will be 37 years old.