As the Indiana Pacers run through the Eastern Conference, the trade that brought Tyrese Haliburton to town is hard to ignore.
The Indiana Pacers, through seven playoff games, look like the best team in the postseason. In the first round, they knocked off Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in five games, and they have already taken a commanding 2-0 series lead over the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.
At the center of it is Tyrese Haliburton, the young All-Star point guard who has cemented himself as the face of the franchise. In the Pacers’ historical two comebacks, he hit the game-winning shot in each game.
In 2022, the Pacers traded for their young star, sending Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, Domantas Sabonis, and a second-round pick to the Sacramento Kings for Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson.
At the time, the trade was seen as a win-win, although it’s become clear that the Pacers emerged on top.
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesKings’ general manager justified the trade
Since 2022, the Kings have made the playoffs only once, losing in the first round. The Pacers, meanwhile, seemed poised to make their second-straight Conference Finals appearance, and have a young core to build around moving forward.
Former general manager Monte McNair knew the Kings were giving up a solid young player, although they thought it was a necessary sacrifice for long-term team success.
“Tyrese, as we all know, is a fantastic player and a fantastic person,” McNair said on The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross in 2022. “We understand that there is a reason that he endeared himself so quickly and so fully to the fanbase.
“But, ultimately, we all know it requires giving up something to get something, and we saw a unique opportunity to go and pursue somebody who’s a two-time All-Star, a 25-year-old who has a skillset that we think makes not just himself, but all the players around him better. Domas is something that we felt put us in a position to achieve our goal, which is to get back into the playoffs.”
The Kings did make the postseason before the Pacers did, and their 2023 core of Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray, and Malik Monk looked poised to be in contention for the next several seasons.
They have not made the playoffs since.
Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty ImagesMcNair’s worst prediction came true
By trading Haliburton, the Kings went all-in on immediate success, and it looked like they made the right move. The Pacers, meanwhile, gave Myles Turner increased responsibility and then traded for Pascal Siakam to round out the roster around Haliburton.
Only one team has had real success, and McNair’s prediction went perfectly wrong.
“I would say, our stated goal is the playoffs and continued success in the playoffs, so through that lens, we want to make the playoffs as quickly as we can, but in a sustainable way, and in a way that we can not just get there, but build from there,” he said in the same interview.
The Kings would go on to do exactly what he feared: make the playoffs quickly in an unsustainable way.
Of course, McNair’s later decisions, like trading for DeMar DeRozan and giving into De’Aaron Fox’s trade request this season didn’t help them open up a title window, but at this point, Haliburton is a better player than Fox, and imagining a Haliburton and Sabonis duo in Sacramento would likely have gone better than the real result.