The entire NBA raised an eyebrow almost a year ago, in February, when it heard that the Sacramento Kings chose to trade Tyrese Halliburton to the Indiana Pacers.
The point guard, pick number 12 in the 2020 draft, was one of the best rookies in the league and finished third in the Young Player of the Year (despite being selected relatively late).
In his second season in the league, he continued to improve, and it seemed that he was becoming the new face of Sacramento.
Many even labeled him in those days as the best draft pick the team ever made.
Later, Halliburton would tell in an amazing column he wrote for the Players Tribune about the moments when he received the news about the trade: "I know it may sound dramatic, but you know the feeling when you hear about something bad that happened to a family or a close friend? And it feels like for a few seconds your heart Stopping, that's how it was," the coordinator described.
"Within half an hour, from the clear understanding that I was going to be the future of the Sacramento Kings, I received the biggest surprise of my life. The players on the team were sure that it was a joke, and I was also sure that my agent was laughing at me."
Nobody in the NBA talked about Domantas Sabonis coming to Sacramento for Halliburton.
Everyone was concerned, perhaps rightfully so, with the Kings' strange decision to give up a 22-year-old player who seemed on the sure path to becoming an All-Star in the league.
In "Sports Illustrated" they washed the team from California: "My God, it is not clear why Sacramento made this trade and what it is supposed to give them, how did they get such a bad deal?".
Halliburton.
Was shocked by the move to Indiana, photo: USA TODAY Sports
Although the Kings have the image of a team that is run badly and has failed to make the playoffs 15 seasons in a row (now 16), one that no player really wants to play for, Halliburton really connected with the city and the club in his season and a half and saw his future in California: "I wanted to be one of the players Those who were chosen somewhere and built a legacy - on and off the field. I wanted to become someone that the people of Sacramento knew was theirs. I would tell people in the city that I wanted to be the next Chris Webber - I wasn't ashamed of that," he said when he left.
If anyone thought Halliburton was undervalued in Sacramento, that certainly wasn't the case.
At the time, the Kings had two young and talented center backs, the aforementioned Halliburton and Diaron Fox.
Despite their close friendship, on the floor with a little "his way" on each other, and Sacramento decided to give up one of them to build the future around the other player.
The general manager of the Kings, Monte McNair, who in those days received harsh criticism for the move, said after the trade: "It's a tough league, sometimes you have to give up one talent for another talent. Every move can be considered a roll of the dice, but our job is to make the decisions that we think will take us forward."
Halliburton and Fox.
Despite their friendship, they stepped on each other on the floor, photo: USA TODAY Sports
Trade without losing
If we treat the trade of Sacramento and Indiana as a roll of the dice, after almost a year it is already clear: they both got a double 6. It is likely that even McNair, who initiated the move, did not imagine how much the combination of Domantas Sabonis would compliment his team.
The Lithuanian, who, like Nikola Jokic, can manage the game from the post - relieves Fox of the task of organizing the game, and allows him to do the thing he loves most in the world: run the court and score baskets.
Sabonis brought about a real change in the Kings' attack, and perhaps more importantly - he is helping them promote the image change they are so looking for.
Not only is Sacramento on the safe way to make the playoffs in the West this year, it managed to transform in one season from a gray team without a future, to one that is the most fun to watch in the best league in the world.
In last week's lopsided win over the Memphis Grizzlies, she hit 12 3-pointers in the first quarter (including 10 straight without making a foul) to tie an NBA record.
Sabonis.
Sacramento is changing its image, photo: USA TODAY Sports
But quite unusually in the league, there is no loser for this trade, because the Indiana Pacers are also very satisfied with what they got.
Before he was injured and sidelined for the last three weeks, Halliburton led Indiana to a season opener that the club has not seen in a long time.
The 22-year-old center, already in the middle of the season, is not far from breaking the amount of points he scored last season.
He leads the league in assists with 10.2 per game, and also averages 20.2 points and 4.0.
In November, he led Indiana to a five-game winning streak for the first time in three years.
The Pacers were marked at the beginning of the season as candidates for "tanking" and for a team that might take Victor Wambaniyama into its ranks.
Except that "with a veil" perhaps, Halliburton made it competitive.
His impact was so significant, and when she lost him to an injury that he returned from tonight, she fell into a terrible streak of 10 losses in the last 11 games, and the race towards the playoffs was very complicated.
Despite this, Indiana can be encouraged and believe that with the return of their ace - they will be able to compete to the end for a place in the top eight of the Eastern Conference or at least start for the play-in.
When Sabonis managed to make it to the NBA All-Star game twice, critics argued that he took advantage of the fact that he was playing in the weak conference.
So on February 19, in Utah, he will prove to them that he is also one of the 12 best players in the West.
On the floor in the league's all-star game, he will meet Halliburton, who was selected as an All-Star for the first time in his career.
Now everyone knows, even them, this trade was the best thing that could have happened to them.
Tyrese Haliburton learned he was named an #NBAAllStar during starting lineups tonight.👏 pic.twitter.com/Ve8t0CBY9p
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) February 3, 2023
the moment @dsabonis11 found out he earned his third all-star appearance 🌟 pic.twitter.com/7JhRbf1oYa
— Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) February 3, 2023 Were we wrong?
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us