In perhaps one of the most shocking moves of the season so far, the Sacramento Kings traded Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield to the Pacers for star big man Domantas Sabonis.
On the surface, it’s easy to see how the Kings would see the value in such a swap. They trade two young, unproven pieces for a 25-year-old star who can add depth to a thin frontcourt.
Giving up Tyrese Haliburton, though, could be a move that haunts them forever.
On the recent episode of his podcast, Bill Simmons laid into the Kings front office for the deal, calling them ‘the dumbest team in the league’ in a heated rant.
“The Kings, we used to make fun of them in Grantland. And Grantland existed from 2000 to 2015 and at that point, the Kings were entering their second half-decade of being morons. Finally, Grantland ends and we start the Ringer — the Kings, still being morons. For 12 years, from 2006 to 2018 they’re the dumbest team in the league. And then they take Bagley over Luka, and we were all having a stroke. They gave away Bogdanovic for reasons that remain unclear, they just didn’t want to play him.
They drafted 3 point guards in 4 years, gave an extension to the wrong one, DeAaron Fox, who is still relatively untradeable at that contract unless you’re taking on somebody else’s problem like Julius Randle. What have been the Kings highlights for the last decade? They had Boogie Cousins, even though that seemed terrible at the time. And picking Haliburton. Not f*cking that up, just picking the right guy when he fell to 12. And then they trade him anyway.
I think Haliburton is an absolute star, I think he’s a future All-NBA guy. I think he could be the second-best guy on a Championship team.”
The Kings have never been regarded as a well-run franchise. They don’t draft very well, trade players they shouldn’t, and frequently dish out bad contracts to overachieving players.
Over the past decade, the DeMarcus Cousins era stands out as one of the few times they were semi-relevant in the Western Conference.
To trade a guy like Haliburton, who was actually committed to the team, seems like another one of those moves they will come to regret later. Either way, we’ll find out soon enough.
