The NBA trade deadline went by with some truly blockbuster moves happening across the league. The trade between the 76ers and Nets that was centered around James Harden and Ben Simmons dominated all the talk when it came to this particular topic. However, the Sacramento Kings made quite the big decision of their own this month, sending promising guard Tyrese Haliburton along with some other players to the Indiana Pacers in return for Domantas Sabonis among others.
The trade drew criticism from across the league, with many questioning the Kings for trading away Haliburton, who was not only playing like one of their best players but had seemingly also bought into the franchise and helped them win. The Kings chose to keep faith with De’Aaron Fox instead though, and JJ Redick, for one, was not impressed by this decision, saying as much on his ‘The Old Man and the Three’ podcast.
“I went on ESPN and I said ‘the Kings just traded their best player’ which is true. If we look at counting stats, yes De’Aaron Fox averages more points, I understand that. There’s really no statistical measure that you can look at this season that doesn’t say Tyrese Haliburton has been the best player for the Kings.”
“All of the all-encompassing advanced stats, single metric stats, who’s the best player? It’s been Tyrese. And the second-best player on the team for the Kings this year has been Harrison [Barnes]. That is a fact. I don’t give a f–k how many points a guy averages. That doesn’t mean s–t. Tyrese Haliburton plays basketball exactly how basketball should be played.”
That is quite the strong take from Redick, considering that Sabonis and Fox are by no means scrubs, and will help the Kings win some games. Haliburton does seem to be proving him right though, wasting no time in making his mark with the Pacers, scoring over 20 points in both of his games for the franchise so far and dropping 16 assists in one of them. While the answer to whether this was the right decision will take time, it’s certainly not something basketball fans will allow the Kings to forget if they have indeed gotten it wrong again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZleciBrBFr0
