Woj: Tyrese Haliburton's Trade to Pacers from Kings 'Stunned' NBA Insiders
The Sacramento Kings reportedly made an enormous trade on Tuesday, dealing Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Tristan Thompson and 2027 second-round pick to the Indiana Pacers for Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb and Aaron Holiday, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
And the response around the league has been one of surprise.
"Stunned," Wojnarowski told Malika Andrews on Tuesday's NBA Today of the reaction across the NBA. "Tyrese Haliburton was stunned, Malika. The league is stunned at this trade, and the fact that he was even available. I think there were a lot of teams who thought, 'If we knew we could have gotten Tyrese Haliburton, we would've been really knocking at the door in Sacramento.' ... Everyone had thought, including Tyrese Haliburton, that he'd be the cornerstone for their future."
Andrews added that one member of the Kings organization was flabbergasted by the move, saying to her: "What the heck is going on?"
The Kings are clearly gearing up to build around a De'Aaron Fox and Sabonis core, with complementary players like Harrison Barnes, Davion Mitchell, Richaun Holmes and Lamb.
But they are choosing to build around two players who don't stretch the floor—Fox is shooting 24.8 percent from three this year, while Sabonis is at 32.4 percent—after giving up two good three-point shooters in Haliburton (41.3 percent) and Hield (36.8 percent).
Haliburton is also just 21 years old and is already averaging 14.3 points and 7.4 assists per game. His upside is extremely high at a premium position, and he's younger than both Fox (24) and Mitchell (23).
Yes, Sabonis (18.9 PPG, 12.1 RPG, 5.0 APG) is a force on the block. But in a modern NBA that asks its centers to stretch the floor and protect the rim, Sabonis doesn't fit that particular build.
In many ways, a Fox-for-Sabonis deal would have made more sense for the Kings from a fit perspective. But the Kings have clearly decided, at least for the moment, that Fox is the player they want to build around in their backcourt.
Time might prove them right. For now, however, the NBA world is reeling from Tuesday's decision.
