TJ McConnell inks 4-year, $45M extension with Pacers

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — One of the breakout stars of the Pacers’ postseason is staying in Indiana.

T.J. McConnell has agreed on a four-year, $45 million contract extension, two agents with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

Wojnarowski says the deal takes the total worth of McConnell’s contract to $54 million over five years.

McConnell averaged 10.2 points for Indiana during the regular season and 11.8 points in the playoffs — both career highs — on the Pacers’ run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

At the start of the regular season, McConnell’s role with the Pacers was unclear. Head coach Rick Carlisle told him before the season that he was not going to be a part of the rotation, News 8’s Josh Bode said in May, and he was on the bench for four of the team’s first nine games.

By the end of the season, McConnell was one of the most pivotal players on the team and a fan favorite.

Pacers GM Chad Buchanan had plenty of praise for McConnell during his end-of-season post conference.

“From where it started, for what he thought the situation was going to be, maybe not playing, not in the rotation, to being compared to Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference Finals by Jaylen Brown, that’s quite the contrast from start to finish,” Buchanan said. “But the love by his teammates, his coaches, the staff, the fans, I mean, he’s what you want an Indiana Pacer to be about. His value to us is obviously very, very high and that is not changed by anything that happened this year and (I) hope that he’s with us for a long time as well.”

McConnell is heading into the last year of his contract with the Pacers. He’s set to make up to $9.3 million.