Shortly before it was announced he had been traded to the Indiana Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton sent out a text to the Kings group. The response from his teammates was: “You are lying.”
Of course, he wasn’t.
Haliburton had been packaged with Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson and sent to the Pacers for Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb and Justin Holiday.
“Everybody was shocked, for sure,” said De’Aaron Fox, who spent a half hour talking to Haliburton after the deal went through. “That’s definitely a guy that you miss.”
Fox said the Pacers are “getting a great one” and that Haliburton has a big opportunity in Indiana. In Haliburton, the Kings are losing a very promising second-year player averaging 14.3 points, 7.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.7 steals. The deal was not only emotional for the fans, but also the players.
“For somebody like Tyrese it’s tough. Being a young guy, coming off the game he just had too, especially. It just hit us tough, it was an emotional day,” said Harrison Barnes.
Haliburton scored 13 points and had 17 assists against the Oklahoma City Thunder in his last game as a King. Barnes appreciated being a part of Haliburton’s entry into the league.
“As a veteran, you realize that every young guy that comes in, you’re part of their entry point into the NBA. However they go, however successful they become, or unsuccessful, you played a part in that, and as a vet it was a proud moment just to see Tyrese really kind of turning that corner and coming into his own and really kind of getting established in this league. I know that he will have a lot of success from here on out,” he said.
Interim head coach Alvin Gentry shared his sentiments on Haliburton as well.
“I told him I love him, and I do love him,” he said. “I think he’s going to be a very good player in this league, and I think he’s got very good leadership qualities. I think all of those things about him. This is just something where a decision was made that this would be better for our team right now and that’s the way you have to look at it. I don’t think it had anything whatsoever to do from a personal standpoint. This was a decision made based on what they thought was best for the team right now.”
And what they believe is best for the team right now is a two-time All Star in Sabonis, who is currently averaging 18.9 points, 12.1 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal per game.
Following the 134-114 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night, Gentry, Fox and Barnes spoke further about the trade.
On Adding Sabonis
De’Aaron Fox: “He’s a monster, he’s like an ox, but he does so many things well, pick and roll, pick and pop, he can pass the ball, play-make out of the post. I think we’ve double teamed him every year that I’ve played them. So hopefully we can get some of that and he’ll make the game easier for others. He’ll get 20 rebounds if he needs to, he’ll get a triple double if he needs to, he does so many great things for us. Just Looking forward to the gravity and the presence that he has when he’s on the floor.”
Harrison Barnes: “Playing with a guy like that, obviously playing against him – a guy who can get on the elbow, he makes those passes, he makes it difficult to guard. Offensively, on a one-on-one situation, he commands that attention, the double teams, things of that nature; can shoot the ball, stretch the floor. He’s going to add a different dynamic to our offense that this franchise hasn’t seen since DeMarcus [Cousins].”
“It’s going to help my cutting game honestly, when we can just play through a guy like that at the elbow, just cutting, spacing, letting him operate and just playing off that. I think it just adds, like I said, a different dynamic. In the past, we really haven’t been a throw-it-down-to-the-post team and I think having that two-way punch – we’re going to shoot threes, we’re going to be perimeter-dominant – but having that option I think is huge.”
Alvin Gentry: “He’s a good rebounder, I think he’s 5th or 6th in the league in rebounding. He’s a very good passer. He’s had a couple of triple doubles, I think, and he gives us some force on the inside there so we’re excited about having him on the team.”
On Fox and Sabonis Playing Together
Alvin Gentry: “I think what you have is you have a guy that is a very good screener. We’re a pick-and-roll team and we try to play out of a funnel, so we want Fox to have room to operate. As I said, screening and rolling is one of the strong suits of Sabonis so hopefully he can help us in that area right there. And by doing that I think he can also free up some shots for some guys. Simply because if we play the high-post offense that we’re capable of then I think he’s going to be able to create some shots for guys because of his passing.”
De’Aaron Fox: “Outside of Harrison every once and while, and Z-Bo [Zach Randolph] my first year, this is the first guy that I’m really going to play with that you can consistently throw the ball to in the post or whatever spot he wants to get the ball in, and he can make a play for whoever it is, or he can go get a bucket.”
On Jeremy Lamb and Justin Holiday
Harrison Barnes: “We have more than two wings now, so that’s nice [laughs], especially with Moe [Harkless] leaving the game there. But I think Jeremy and Justin have been around the league a long time. They’ll be able to come in, help us out, not only shooting the ball, but also defensively, being able to switch, being able to have more longer wings out there, giving guys different coverages, different looks.”
Alvin Gentry: “Justin Holiday I coached in Golden State, and I think his game has gotten better every year, so we’re excited about that. And Jeremy Lamb, we know he gives us some additional size at that position and he’s a capable shooter.”
A Few Takeaways
- There was definitely a feeling of shock around the building Tuesday night. This deal shook the team, which is understandable.
- Sabonis, Holiday and Lamb were in Sacramento already yesterday and had met with the team. There is no official word yet, but there is a chance they play in tonight’s game.
- Sabonis actually currently ranks 4th in rebounding in the league right now.
- After the game, Fox said he was a tired from getting back into game intensity, but said his body felt fine.
- Fox’s fit with Sabonis is going to be an interesting thing to watch over the remainder of the season, and that fit is largely going to determine the trajectory of this team.
Looking forward to seeing the new guys!
All the best to our kid, Tyrese.
Hindsight is 20/20. Let’s revisit after 23-24 season. My Kangz prediction is Sabonis leaves for a contender and Monte is fired. But hey, Vivek can always put up a Billboard to mow Domas’ lawn.
The Kings do have the option to extend him this summer. I’d hope they talked with Sabonis’ camp before making the trade and that point came up. If for some reason they do not extend and they let him become a UFA in 2024, then holy fuck did Monte mess up.
Ah ok good to know. Thanks Adam.
I would trade our draft pick for another star quality player. The mindset of this team has to be “win now.” The Kings need to be able to keep Sabonis here with a good team surrounding him.
I’d throw anything, including picks, not named Sabonis or Fox, at ATL for Collins. If Monte doesn’t want to deal picks then offer Holmes to the Hornets for Washington. That later might be the better option because the Kings can move on from Holmes who just simply cannot share the floor with Sabonis. I don’t see why ATL would want Holmes.
Washington may not be as impressive as Collins, but he’s a legit stretch 4 that could be a great 4th banana on a teams that already has Fox, Sabonis, and Barnes.
PJ isn’t really a stretch 4 any more than Barnes is. Honestly, I think a team is tough to build around a Fox/Sabonis pair since their skillsets aren’t really complementary. You pretty much need every other player to be plus shooters and defenders, and you need at least one more perimeter playmaker facilitator. Collins and Washington both bring adequate spot up 3pt shooting, but neither defend or pass especially well. After the trade, the Kings are still sitting on a roster with one guy that could be considered a high BBIQ player. I think ultimately it’s real hard to win that way.
How are Washington, Barnes or even Collins not stretch 4s? They fall in line with other stretch 4 types like Gallo, Markkanen, or Zinger.
Sorry, poorly worded. They are all stretch 4s (a bit undersized ones in the cases of Washington & Barnes). My point was that Washington doesn’t really bring anything new to the current roster. Neither Barnes nor Washington are really ideal at the 4 due to their lack of rebounding and rim-protection. Unless, of course, you’re just able to use him to get Barnes’ production cheaper and move off of Barnes contract.
Why not Washington at the 4 and Barnes at the 3? Both can spread the floor and could potentially pair nicely with a slashing Fox and paint playing Sabonis. Neither are slouches on defense. Yes, you don’t have rim protection, but finding a rim protecting stretch 4 damn near impossible.
This is an aside, but is Jabari Smith Jr considered a rim protector? Banchero? I know Holmgren is which is why I’m not asking about him.
They’re both okay. But they’d be more like, say, Vucevic style. Where they can make life difficult on their mark, but they aren’t necessarily going to be doing the weakside/help rim-protection that impacts the entire defense.
As Adam mentions, it’s really tough to get high level rim-protection out of a PF. But the team needs some. And even the small amount like Banchero and Smith will likely offer would be a BIG upgrade for the Kings. Really, what you’re hoping for is a 3-and-D big that can defend the perimeter a bit. In this draft, outside of Chet, that guy might be someone like Kamagate. But that’s obviously a risky assumption.
Thanks. I tend to see rim protection as something of a bonus in the overall package. It’s awesome if there, but not necessary for a great defense.
It makes team defense A LOT easier. But no, great rim protection isn’t an absolute necessity. You can’t have zero rim protection to the degree where opponents are just attacking the rim all day, but it doesn’t have to be elite. What IS a necessity is a bunch of guys with High BBIQs and an understanding of the scheme that can work together. Which is why a guy like Sabonis, or even a Steph Curry, can play a positive role in a good defense. Unfortunately, I don’t think we’re flush with those types of guys. Mitchell is special in 1v1 at the point of attack. That’s a good start. But this roster badly needs more smart, versatile defenders on the wing and interior.
Let’s be honest. This roster needs a whole lot of things starting with an identity and a leader. And more goddamn toughness.
Your point is true, too.
I would go after Patrick Williams – definition of rim protection and 3s.
You could! But neither are very good at defending those positions, as you say you have zero rim protection, and you’re leaving ALLLLLLL the rebounding responsibility to Sabonis. The floor spreading is the only part that really works there IMO, and you still don’t have a high level perimeter facilitator.
I’m fine leaving all the rebounding to Sabonis, he’s damn good at it. Plus, that kind of strategy is working for PHX.
The tea leaves I’m reading tells me Monte wants a free flowing offense centered around Fox and Sabonis with tons of PnR and off ball movement. From that, having two guys like Barnes and Washington may work…on the offensive end.
If the other part of that plan is to have Mitchell be the point of attack defender, I could squint and see a perimeter defense focused squad, which may work in today’s perimeter offense focused league.
The next move should (hopefully) point us in focused direction.
I mean, that may be true. But Fox isn’t especially adept at “free-flowing,” running the PnR or moving off the ball. And as great as Mitchell is at the point of attack, you’re making Fox an easy target in forcing him to guard bigger players. Which is to say nothing of the fact that Barnes, if we’re being generous, is an average wing defender. His greatest skill as a defender is his ability not to embarrass himself defending 3-5. Not that he’s especially adept at defending any particular part of that equation.
This feels more concept than actuality. I think Fox improves guarding bigger players, not worse than he defends PG’s.
I tend to think of Barnes as a jack of all trades master of none type player.
I think if you play Fox off ball, you’ll see his steals tick up and you’ll also see him constantly getting targeted as a size mismatch anytime the Kings play a game where it’s actually worth the opponent doing any scheming against them. ESPECIALLY, as Mitchell gets more of a rep around the league.
That’s a risk I’m willing to take. What’s the worst that’s going to happen? The Kings be the worst team in the history of DRtg?
Truth. If anything put Fox to the test. The Kings have obviously made him the choice over Hali, so make and expect him to step up.
If you think he’s the franchise, make him act like it.
yuppers
That’s true and it better happen soon. As it stands now this team will struggle again next year and that leaves one year left of Sabonis. Imagine how we will feel when two years from now this team is not appreciably better, Sabonis is a free agent and Hali has just played in his first all star game. Could happen.
I corrected this tweet for Zach Lowe: Small trade note: As of now — and everything can change in the next 26 hours — the Indiana Pacers
do not plan tocan’t trade Buddy Hielddespite somebecause of no interest from other teams, sources tell ESPN.It’s pretty wild to think the the Pacers are just going to cut TT and want to move Buddy. They saw positive value in trading their best player in Sabonis for Hali. Sure contracts and age are determining factors, but simply put, they valued Hali over Sabonis so much they were willing to take on Buddy’s deal and toss in a 2nd round pick to sweeten the pot.
Hey, if that’s what it took to get rid of Buddy then I am totally on board. He was completely checked out and needed to go asap.
I do wonder, did the Pacers consider Fox for Sabonis and the Kings wanted to dump Buddy bad enough to offer Hali instead?
I don’t think they wanted Fox. Frankly, Hali just has more value across the league. Again, age and contract are a big part of that.
Hali definitely has more value…adding that Buddy contract to the deal definitely proved that.
I had the *exact* same thought. The money would have been different so the filler pieces would have changed but a straight Fox-for-Sabonis deal would seemingly be more attractive for a complete rebuild in Indiana as opposed to taking on an overpaid malcontent
That was my guess and seems the most likely.
I like the trade. A Fox & Sabonis team with reasonable fit around them should be more than capable of making the playoffs and I’ve maintained for several years now that that absolutely has to be the first step towards getting this franchise turned around. Once the playoff monkey has been removed from their back- when the drought has been killed off, broken down into its constituent particles and cast into the void – then the FO can take a long, hard look a what they have and decide on real rebuilding plan.
It’s going to take some work to get some “reasonable fit” around them. None of the current bigs make much sense next to Sabonis. The closest fit would be Barnes, but then you don’t have any rim protection at all in the front court and a gaping hole (what’s new?) at SF. And that’s to say nothing of the complete lack of spacing on a team whose two top players require spacing to be optimized.
Really hate to see Hali go but understand the rationale for the trade. We had two really good PGs and a promising rookie PG. Only Barnes can reliably score as a big on his own. Getting rid of Buddy’s contract, overshooting, and turnovers was a plus. He is an interesting cat but it was time for him to move on. TT was not playing anyways. Nice to get a couple of longish 2/3 wings who can take minutes. Wish Hali all the best and will always be a fan of his.
Well, this is maddening: Kings shift gears on Harrison Barnes trade ahead of deadline
This is the worst-case scenario: The Kings are still intent on “pushing for the play-in,” as if it’s some sort of laudable goal worth pursuing, rather than a pathetic excuse for an aspiration that only losers contemplate. Lord, I hope this is just another “silly season” article that has no actual truth behind it. Barnes is the best remaining trade chip the team has, by far. His value will never be higher than it is right now. Please, Monte, forget the stupid effing play-in!!!!!
I don’t disagree with you, but I wonder with the attention that Sabs will be getting if Barnes becomes a viable and bigger option from distance. He has been pretty good and has had some big nights – maybe an inside presence frees him up some more?
That said, if your big three is Fox / Sabs / Barnes you are in trouble, so if you are retaining him you better have some other irons in the fire. And other than the limited value of Holmes and Davi or pick(s), you’re kind of selling out of an empty wagon.
It’s not that Barnes hurts you, and with Sabonis he may be even a little better. The issue, I suppose, is the ceiling that exists as to how much he helps you versus the assets that he might get you in trade.
Keeping Barnes, in a vacuum, doesn’t bother me at all. What bothers me is the reason for keeping him: “Play-in push!!!” Again, how lame can you be? How short-sighted? The goal should be to build a bona fide playoff team for next season and beyond. If you happen to stumble into the play-in this year, that’s fine. But please please please, don’t make the play-in your North Star. It’s indescribably lame.
They are probably keeping him (maybe) because his trade value relative to his actual value with the Kings just isn’t there. I was hoping someone would have parted with a good prospect like Hachimura for him or a nice mid first rounder for him.
Does Harrison Barnes not help towards that process, particularly next season? There is no quote attributed towards the playoff push in the linked article above. Speculation…are there quotes over the last month from the organization that the goal is specifically the play in? I’ve been a bit more checked out…maybe I missed it.
Barnes is a quality wing that can do a bit of everything. Other teams want him for a reason…his contract once seen as an albatross is more than reasonable. If the Kings aren’t going into tank mode, I might be able to be convinced either way whether they should, I think you keep Barnes because where are they going to find another Harrison Barnes type player for next season? IF you trade Barnes, then rip the whole thing down. Trading Barnes while keeping these other main parts as is, makes even less sense to me.
Barnes is fine. He’s a bit of a tweener that isn’t going to hurt you, but also isn’t going to elevate your team much. I think he has more value to the high level teams where the marginal cost of a win is much higher.
Well, I guess it depends on how much one thinks retaining him is for this season as opposed to next. Absent of another deal, I don’t think they catch New Orleans – I just think that the transition will be more seamless for CJ and the Pels than it will be for Sabs and the Kings.
I have no issue with trading Barnes, but if you do, you need to replace and improve upon what he brings to the table. That is this team now – it is not amassing assets for later, it is trying to get better over the next 2+ seasons. I don’t see them entertaining deals for a young player and a non-lottery pick for Barnes anymore.
I think the Kings added talent but lost some fit. I don’t see Sabonis adding all that many wins to the 2021-22 record. Of course, that presumes there aren’t more moves coming.
Agreed. And even if he adds even a win or two, that won’t catch the Pels.
This team is still a couple of players away. In today’s NBA, your team has to be complete and able to compete on the nights where your best player(s) are not available. This roster needs a rim protecting stretch 4-5, a 3 & D wing, a shooting guard above the level of Davi or Holiday, as well as more bench depth at PG.
Yep, if you aren’t going to trot our a couple top 20 players, then you better have the right balance/fit. The Kings currently have one top 20 type of player and not much balance/fit.
Yeah, I think they have a couple of low 30 guys, and Fox needs to ascend a level. They need a guy in the Collins / McCollum / Ingram range, and then solid backfilling with guys at/around Barnes level. Absent of an absolute supersuperstar, that would be the very narrow path.
And who is that top 20 player. Did they make a deal I’m not aware of.
Sabonis is in that tier. By many measurements he’s closer to the top 10.
Your right and do you see them getting those two players soon. I guess you’d have to completely given your draft for the next three years to get them.
Yep that’s the lane there in and I don’t know how you get appreciably better from here unless you completely mortgage the future on another player like Lillard and even that has it’s shortcomings. Maybe Fox or Mitchell, Bagley, Holmes and three first round picks and a second for Lillard and Juric but I don’t think Portland is moving on from Dame.
I come here for the 19th-century metaphors!
Lord of the Kangz.
It’s because Barnes is one of the few players on the team who can shoot. Whichever dipstick inside that organization who thinks being the best team in the bottom third of the conference is worth pursuing should never, ever work in or near the NBA again.
There’s the piece of shit owner who is, at least in part if not all, responsible for picking this playin mandate and building around Fox. Over Hali.
It is all counter intuitive and smacks of ego and idiocy.
Just like the Fakers trading for Westbrook. EVERYBODY knew it was a bad idea from the jump amd yet….
I have a similar feeling about this bullshit. I think if you had every GM with this trade, they’d all take Hali. Because that actually makes sense.
We are already hoping for things to change in order to make this work. Already hoping Fox learns to shoot or blossoms. It’s fucked up decisions making by a fucked up owner and his cronies.
Unless they get others that fit or Fox miraculously becomes a shooter it’s the same shit.
I also would be into trading Barnes, but I’d assume the thinking here is that he is our lone plus outside shooter after trading Hali and Hield, therefore we have to retain him (and probably add more shooting) in order to have proper spacing with Fox and Sab sharing the floor.
I still think we can manage another upgrade with Holmes, Marvin, and draft capital (tho I would lottery protect the pick this year myself).
Can he play SF?
Hey, what’s going on, everybody? Every one upright and feeling okay?
Things have been neutral-to-positive here. r/kings is over here if you need some meltdown.
I find I need very little at r/[anything]. Though r/mademesmile is worth a visit once in a while.
Well, if you’re ever looking for kneejerk reactions, bad Marvel memes, casual racism, 9th-grade-level-blowjob-jokes, and and endless series of posts that are really just a sentence or two, look no further than r/kings. It’s got all of that (and not much more).
There’s some good forums over there, but it’s *very* hit and miss.
Still shocked Buddy was able to be traded.
I’m not. Though it’s hard to ascertain how much value he added/subtracted in this equation. I think the narrative on Buddy ’round these parts has ventured pretty far into hyperbole.
It would be a small group at best – a contending team in need of deep shooting that has a 2nd round pick and enough expiring contract. I’m too lazy to look, but I’m betting it’s not a long list. And if I was on that list, I would have opted for LeVert or Gordon first (understanding that I might have to give up a non-lottery 1st for one of those guys).
I can’t see that. Though Hield, LeVert and Gordon couldn’t be more different as players. So I wouldn’t think a team needing Hield’s skillset would be looking at the other two.
Sorry. I meant I can see that.
I’ll be honest. I would suspect that if the Kings had the choice of trading for Julius Randle and Evan Fournier for De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield they do. But the Knicks say no to that. Because they don’t want Buddy.
I think Buddy’s value is so low, it might be bordering on toxic levels. I just get the sense at this point the only way he’s leaving the team he’s under contract with is if that team, in this case the Pacers, waive him.
It’s possible. I’ve been wrong about player values before.
That’s true of everybody brother, and it don’t get more real than that. But I keep coming back to this: How do you pull off a trade for Buddy that teams are willing to make? I’ve tried….and keep coming up empty.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Small trade note: As of now — and everything can change in the next 26 hours — the Indiana Pacers do not plan to trade Buddy Hield despite some interest from other teams, sources tell ESPN.</p>— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/1491472948426772481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
LOL @ this. Wonder what Pritchard paid Lowe to tweet this out.
How quickly Fox forgot about Harry Giles. That was a guy who you could throw the ball to in the high post and he can make a play.
Um… Harry Giles is to Darko what Sabonis is to Chris Webber.
You’re not talking about the two in the same sentence now are you? I’m not saying Sabonis is going to lead the charge back to 2002, but Fox didn’t mention HGIII for the same reason he didn’t mention MBIII. They’re just not remotely in comparison to one another.
you sort of missed the point. Bagley is not a playmaker for others. he’s a black hole on offense.
The trade reeks of Vivek’s short sighted “win now” vision. Sabonis will win us an additional couple of games, maybe make the play-in (only to lose there immediately, of course), and take us out of good draft lottery odds. Same tired old shit, different year, different set of players. In a few years this trade will look as stupid for us as picking Bagley over Doncic.
I’m really of two minds here. In a vacuum, purely in terms of value, I think the trade is a good one. I LOVE Haliburton and personally, I wouldn’t have traded him. But objectively, this is a reasonable-to-good deal for a very good Sabonis. Who is young and on a value contract for two more seasons.
THAT SAID, I’m really hoping there is more in the hopper, because I’m not seeing the overall vision here. If it’s a team built around Fox and Sabonis, then I don’t see a ton of success there. I think it’s pretty hard to win when your two tent poles aren’t really complementary and aren’t good enough to just overwhelm the opposition with talent regardless of fit. At the moment, we have a roster without any bigs that are a natural fit next to Sabonis and without the spacing that Fox and Sabonis both badly need to operate at their best. And that’s to say nothing of the defense. So, as I said, I’ll be really interested to see the overall vision that this move is meant to lead to.
Very solid take.
A fair minded, fair value take if I ever saw one.
On the light side, I am excited to see the best Kings acquisition since Ron Artest.
On the dark side, I am curious to see how this works.
Fox is ranked second to last pick and roll player in the league through advanced stats. But, Fox has never had a big like Sabonis in the front.
Sabonis will add more scoring punch. But, teams will key on both Fox/Sabonis due to their lack of outside shooting. The offense would probably run through Sabonis. Sabonis will improve Sac’s offensive rebounding. But, not so much on the defensive end.
I see Sabonis as a 3rd option on a playoff team. His numbers looked great in Indiana. But, that offense was done by committee. If the Kings add at least 2 shooters this team will be good. If the Kings don’t make any moves tomorrow, I am not sure they get the playin.
Maybe, Fox learns to become a better distributor with Sabonis on the team. That’s the hope.
Maybe, Fox’s 3pt shooting moves up to 35 percent.
It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out after tomorrow’s deadline.
I guess that talk about building around Tyrese and Fox was nothing.
Assuming that now the narrative is building around Sabonis and Fox, give me your ideal 3rd star that takes the team into Playoff contention?
No idea how’d you get them, but Brandon Ingram would be nice. I think that RJ Barrett’s an up and comer. There are others, but I don’t know how you land them.
After trading for CJ. I have to imagine the Pelicans will want to get a good look at a CJ, Ingram, Zion lineup before considering moving any of them.
Badge Legend