INDIANAPOLIS ‒ Tyrese Haliburton dazzles Kevin Pritchard on the floor on a nightly basis.

The Pacers' president of basketball operations' analytic models show Haliburton to be one of the five most efficient offensive players in the NBA, astounding for a 23-year-old point guard. Haliburton earned his first All-Star nod this season, averaging 20.7 points and 10.4 assists while shooting 49% from the floor and 40% from 3-point range. Pritchard still believes that if Haliburton hadn't sprained his left elbow against the Knicks on Jan. 11 ‒ an injury that cost him 10 games, nine of which the Pacers lost ‒ Indiana might have found themselves in the playoffs instead of the lottery, and might have even had a chance to win a series.

But Pritchard sees Haliburton as more than just a great player. He sees a personality that can open up doors that even other elite talents can't.

"I've never been around a more complete, empathetic, understanding-of-what-the-real-world is, loving, taking-care-of-the-small-people, truly-committed-to-community leader like him," Pritchard said. "I've never seen it. I've never seen a connector like Tyrese ever. Like ever. He connects with our ball boys. He connects with the CEO of some company. He just has this ability to make people feel comfortable around him. When I talk to him, I learn from him. I really do."

That ability takes Haliburton beyond the realm of just being a foundational piece of a rebuild. He can be the face of the organization and its most effective ambassador. He can attract resources for both the brand and the roster and can help the Pacers draw business partners as well as free agents.

So going forward, the Pacers will be giving him an even greater and more direct stake in the organization than they already were.

"The direction that he's headed, he becomes a partner in the franchise," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "When you're the face of the franchise, you're a real partner in it. We need to do everything possible to put him in a position to be able to do his job at the highest possible levels and try to remove as much difficulty from his job as possible."

That means adding players to the roster that fit with him, retaining players who have already proven they can, and not pursuing players who do not. So that means Haliburton gets a voice going forward in personnel moves.

Pritchard was quick to say that doesn't mean Haliburton gets the final decision, and that he's not passing off his own responsibilities as the man ultimately in charge of personnel. But there is simply no point in bringing in people who don't fit with the franchise's most important player, especially because he's so easy go get along with.

"Ty knows his stuff in terms of players," Pritchard said. "He studies it. I guess I would say this, there aren't many major decisions that I'll be looking at that he won't be a part of. What I tell players, I've had this question. A long time ago, Brandon Roy became that kind of guy in Portland. We had a great dialogue. I want to get his feelings, but I don't want to put the pressure on him. The pressure is on me. I don't want to add that pressure. I'll listen to him and I'll try to help. At the end of the day, I kinda gotta make that decision."

Pritchard said there's already a good bit of synergy between he and Haliburton any way. They tend to mostly agree on who fits the Pacers' dynamic.

"Our conversations when we talk about players tend to be very lined up," Pritchard said. "When he likes a guy for us, I go, 'Yeah, that makes sense.' What's fun is him and I can have really good debates about players. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, but we usually unite on the decision."

Pritchard has had numerous such conversations with Haliburton throughout the 14 months he's been part of the Pacers organization since he was acquired by trade from the Kings in February, 2022. But they never discussed his place with such gravity as they did during his exit interview Monday.

"When Rick said he was a partner, it was me, Rick, (lead assistant coach) Lloyd (Pierce), (general manager) Chad (Buchanan) and Tyrese," Pritchard said. "We all said, 'This is the partnership. This is going to be the group that's going to be looking at things.' I saw his eyes kind of beam. He wanted to be a part of that too."

Keeping Haliburton a part of that means a contract extension. Haliburton's four-year, $17.9 million rookie deal runs out at the end of the 2023-24 season. The face of the franchise will certainly have every reason to expect to be the highest paid player on the roster, beyond center Myles Turner and the deal that will pay him approximately $40 million over the next two seasons.

Pritchard indicated he'll have no hesitation about making that happen.

"Ty is our guy," Pritchard said. "We want Ty here for as long as he wants to be here and I don't think that's going to be too complicated. I've gone into some negotiations where I thought that and they became pretty (complicated). But Ty is going to be here a long time."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers view Tyrese Haliburton as franchise partner