Tyrese Haliburton was the centerpiece of the trade that occurred last February and brought him to Indiana after one and a half season in Sacramento. While many still appear stunned by the logic behind the trade, Haliburton says it’s blessing.
During an interview with Alex Kennedy of Basketball News, the former Iowa State standout discussed his time in Indiana and the trade that brought him to the Pacers to conclude his second year of his NBA career.
“If I’m being completely honest, that [trade] is such a blessing for me. It’s so easy now to look at it that way, but it’s a complete blessing for me to be in the situation that I’m in, to have the ability to showcase what I can do and play my natural position”.
During his time in Sacramento, Haliburton was mostly used at the shooting guard position alongside De’Aaron Fox. While the pairing wasn’t a complete failure, the Kings weren’t able to put together a winning team around them.
“So, you know, it’s love at the end of the day. It is what it is. Just taking a step back and self-reflecting on a lot of different things in life, I think it made me a bigger person and just have more self-awareness,” concluded on his thoughts on the trade.
Since his trade, Haliburton elevated his game even more, averaging 17.5 points and 9.6 assists on 50/41/84 shooting splits. With a well-experienced head coach in the bench in Rick Carlisle and Haliburton as the leading force, Indiana is hoping to continue growing next season.
