Six Months Removed From Trade To Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton Is Motivated To Make Kings Pay

The wounds from February’s NBA Trade Deadline are still very much fresh and unhealed for Tyrese Haliburton.

Since being traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Indiana Pacers on February 8th, Haliburton has made it clear (on several occasions) that he intends to make his old team regret the decision to move him for two-time All-Star center Domantas Sabonis.

As we move within one month of the beginning of NBA training camps for the 2022-23 season, Haliburton has made headlines once again in discussing his former team, this time with Alex Kennedy of BasketballNews.com.

"Tyrese was a very big fan of Ben at Arizona and during the draft process, and I think he likes their fit together.”

Pacers GM Chad Buchanan is excited about the pairing of Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin, as he told @AlexKennedyNBA:https://t.co/tYKBiYlVJu

— BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) August 22, 2022

During an interview with Kennedy that was published on August 19th, the soon-to-be third-year guard discussed his emotions regarding the move from Sacramento to Indiana, stating that he is motivated to make the Kings regret its decision in pulling the trigger on February’s deadline deal.

“I think for the rest of my career, that [trade] is in my head, right? I think the great ones take little things, negative things and run with them,” Haliburton said. “It’s funny — when I do things well, people are always like, ‘Look at what the Kings did!’ I love that stuff. That’s what I love. My whole life, I just love proving people wrong… Everything I do, I just want it to be like, ‘[Look at what the Kings did]!’”

Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton to BasketballNews.com’s Alex Kennedy on his feelings towards his old team, the Sacramento Kings (August 19, 2022)

Although Haliburton appears to be set on getting his revenge against Sacramento, the guard also shared that he has eased up on his resentment towards his former organization.

“I’m not gonna lie — for a while, it was just complete resentment towards, honestly, everybody in the organization if I’m being quite frank, even people who had nothing to do with [the trade]. It was just resentment towards the organization as a whole. And that was so immature of me. It’s funny — the other day I was just writing down regrets I have in my life, unfulfilled expectations and resentments, and the only resentment I could come up with in my life right now is the Sacramento Kings. And it’s like, I don’t want to hold onto that.”

Haliburton on setting aside his resentment towards the Kings (August 19, 2022)

When Haliburton was traded to Indiana, it was a shock to the Sacramento Kings fanbase–and most of the NBA, for that matter. Yes, the Kings were acquiring an All-Star talent in Sabonis, but moving Haliburton–a player that had completely bought into becoming a driving force of changing Sacramento’s losing culture–was a twist of the knife for fans, at least during the immediate days following the trade.

Sacramento’s general manager Monte McNair opted to swing for the fences in acquiring Sabonis, a center that can almost sleepwalk into an 18-point, 13-rebound performance while unclogging the backcourt in the process.

Entering the 2021-22 season, the Kings had three talented point guards–Haliburton, De’Aaron Fox, and rookie Davion Mitchell–and little-to-no impact players at the forward or center positions. When starting center Richaun Holmes struggled after returning from two eye injuries, the writing was on the wall: one of Fox, Haliburton or Mitchell were going to be moved during February’s trade deadline.

When the time came to make a move, McNair opted to include Haliburton in a deal for Sabonis. It’s unknown if the Fox-Haliburton backcourt would have worked long-term, but pairing one of the guards with a strong talent like Sabonis is the shakeup that McNair thought that this franchise needed.

Change was inevitable, something that the guards themselves even could read in the tea leaves.

Back in March, Mitchell told Nick Cattles of Sactown Sports 1140 that he expected the trio of guards to be broken up, adding that the Kings needed a floor-spacer that doesn’t constantly need the ball in his hands.

“You have to think that it’s only one ball out there. None of us are really guys who catch and shoot. Tyrese can and De’Aaron can from time to time, but it’s not something that we are comfortable doing. I think at some point you had to realize that one of us had to go. Just because we had to get something else–a guy who can stretch the floor, catch and shoot, and also make plays, but not be ball-dominant like us three guards are.”

Kings guard Davion Mitchell on the Tyrese Haliburton trade — March 31, 2022

Sacramento needed to shake things up, and Haliburton was likely the team’s most attractive trade asset when negotiating a deal for Sabonis. The jury is still out on the deal, as the Kings will have the next two seasons with Sabonis before the big man enters unrestricted free agency following the 2023-24 season.

Tyrese Haliburton is now the face of the Pacers franchise and will likely receive a max extension within the next year that will lock him in with Indiana long-term. As for the young guard’s standing with Sacramento, it’s unsurprising that he wants revenge. That’s the way that the heart of a true competitor like Haliburton works.

Although revenge will be on Haliburton’s mind during his first game back at Golden 1 Center on November 30th, I would expect that the former King gets a memorable ovation in front of a near-sellout crowd.

Follow @FCartoscelli3

Newsletter