Tyrese Haliburton traded to Indiana Pacers

Mikinna Kerns/Iowa State Daily

Tyrese Haliburton was traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Indiana Pacers on Feb. 8, less than two full seasons after being drafted 12th overall by Sacramento.

Matt Belinson

Former Iowa State guard Tyrese Haliburton has a new NBA home.

ESPN’s Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported Tuesday that Haliburton would be traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Indiana Pacers in a trade headlined by Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis, among other players.

Outside of Sabonis, the Pacers traded Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday and a 2027 second-round pick in exchange for Haliburton, Kings guard Buddy Hield and center Tristan Thompson.

The move comes two days before the NBA trade deadline at 3 p.m. Thursday. The Kings are currently 13th in the Western Conference with a 20-35 record.

Haliburton was taken with the No. 12 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Kings and finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in the 2020-21 season.

The pairing of Haliburton with 24-year-old guard De’Aaron Fox in Sacramento was seen as the start of a rebuild for a Kings franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2006 — a year before the first iPhone was released.

The Kings also hold the longest NBA Finals drought in the league, currently sitting at 69 years.

But now, Haliburton will play for the Pacers and come with impressive numbers from his sophomore season to bring a young play-making guard to the table.

The former Cyclone is averaging 14.3 points per game, 7.4 assists (11th best in the NBA) and 1.7 steals per game (6th in the NBA). Haliburton is shooting 41.3 percent from three as well.

Haliburton’s efforts have earned him a selection to the 2022 Clorox Rising Stars game, taking place Feb. 18. The game features some of the best first and second-year players in the NBA, as well as a small number of players from the “G-League Unite” team.

Haliburton played at Iowa State for two seasons and earned All-Big 12 Second Team for the 2019-20 season.

In his first season in Ames, Haliburton helped Iowa State win its last Big 12 Tournament title as a freshman in the 2018-19 season. His 6.45 assists per game average in the 2019-20 season ranks sixth-best in school history.