According to the RealGM transactions log, shooting guard Dakota Mathias has officially signed a contract with the Indiana Pacers for an exhibit 10 training camp.
29-year-old 6-foot-4 Mathias was not selected in the 2018 Purdue University draft. He played in six games with the Memphis Grizzlies the next year after making eight appearances with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2020–21.
In addition, he has worked professionally in the G League, Germany, and Spain. In addition, he averaged 6.6 points and 1.2 rebounds while playing in the NBA Summer League with the Pacers in July.
Similar to the most of previous Exhibit 10 acquisitions, Mathias is probably going to the Indiana Mad Ants, but he may have a chance to contend for a two-way contract.
An Exhibit 10 contract is a non-guaranteed minimum-salary arrangement. As long as the player is not added to the final roster, it counts against the team’s cap. Before the season starts, it can also be changed to a two-way contract. Moreover, it can provide compensation in the event that a player is released and subsequently remains with a G League team for at least sixty days.
The Pacers formally waived forward Cameron McGriff and guard Kyle Magnus, who are also going to the Mad Ants, at the same time as this transaction.
Then, he traveled to Las Vegas in July to play with the Los Angeles Lakers summer squad.
McGriff, 26, is 6-7 and was not selected in the 2020 Oklahoma State football draft. He has been playing in the G League and abroad. In the 2021–2022 season, he had three appearances for the Portland Trail Blazers, averaging 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 points.
A top player for the Pacers is tipped to win a major award the next season.
Last season, the Indiana Pacers had an incredible season. Despite being the No. 6 seed, the team qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in ten years. In addition, the Pacers advanced to the NBA Cup Finals of the first In-Season Tournament, which they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.
There are many reasons to be optimistic about the Pacers going into the 2024–25 season. They are a youthful squad who just had their most successful season in a long time.
Tyrese Haliburton, a guard the Indiana Pacers acquired from the Sacramento Kings in 2022, has emerged as a major factor in the team’s success recently.
Haliburton averaged 20.1 points, a league-high 10.9 rebounds, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game in the previous campaign.
Haliburton’s outstanding performance earned him a spot on the All-NBA Third Team for the first time in his career and an All-Star selection for the second time in a row. In the vote for Most Improved Player, Haliburton came in ninth place as well. In addition, Haliburton won a gold medal at the Olympics with Team USA earlier this summer.
The 24-year-old Wisconsin native’s career seems to have no limits because he has become better every year since joining the NBA. Haliburton has already established himself as one of the top young point guards in the NBA and may ultimately find himself in MVP debates, even though he has probably not reached his prime yet.
NBA MVP candidate Tyrese Haliburton of the Pacers is a wild card to win in 2025.
The recent success of Haliburton has not gone unnoticed.
The Pacers star is one of writer Greg Swartz’s 10 wild card predictions to win the MVP award the next season, according to a recent Bleacher Report piece. In addition, he referred to Haliburton as “the heart and soul” of the group and predicted that they will be “competitive for years in the East.”
At the moment, Haliburton (+15000) has the 17th-best odds to win the trophy the next season. Despite the high expectations that followed his stellar season last year, Haliburton’s chances of winning MVP in 2025 look doubtful. But if things continue this way, Haliburton ought to be a serious contender in a few years.
