Draymond Green confused with the Kings’ thinking, considers Indiana Pacers the clear winner in the Tyrese Haliburton trade.
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The Sacramento Kings shook the world on Tuesday when they announced they are trading for Domantas Sabonis for one of their point guards. Having a jam-packed backcourt with three young guards, the Kings were looking to trade De’Aaron Fox as the trade deadline approached.
Similarly, the Pacers were having a logjam in the frontcourt with Sabonis and Myles Turner. Both starter caliber centers were playing in the same team since the start of their young careers.
So, both the teams did what seemed necessary, but one of the players the Kings sent out came as a shocker to the NBA community.
Sactown traded their sophomore sensation Tyrese Haliburton alongside Buddy Heild and Tristan Thompson to Indy for Sabonis, Justin Holiday, and Jeremy Lamb.
Already a clear winner in the trade, the Pacers also got themselves a 2027-second round pick for their 2x All-Star. This sent shockwaves around the league with many players and experts reacting to the trade.
Draymond Green has his say on the Tyrese Haliburton trade
The Warriors star forward Draymond Green apart from being a part-time analyst for TNT also has his own YouTube channel where he hosts the podcast, namely, “The Draymond Green Show”. Green discussed his disbelief in the trade as it happened.
“I was shocked by this one,” Green said on his latest episode. “The reason I was shocked is that I just could not foresee the Sacramento Kings trading Haliburton. I also had heard rumors, and I think we all had heard rumors, of De’Aaron Fox possibly going to Indiana. So if I’m evaluating this trade and knowing the rumors were Fox for Sabonis, and now it’s Tyrese Haliburton for Sabonis, I would have to say the Pacers won the trade.”
The 21-year old was averaging over 14-4-7 this season. Before the trade, he was averaging 17.3 points and 9.4 assists for the last 24 games, shooting 47 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range.
“I had heard things before about how much the Kings loved Tyrese Haliburton, and then playing against him, he’s just a winning player. He plays winning basketball, he makes guys better, you can tell how the guys respond to him that they enjoy playing with him.” Green finished his assessment for the trade.
Everyone is considering the Pacers to be the winners of this trade, but Wednesday night Sacramento played as if they were it. Inside 24 hours of the trade, they beat the 7th placed Timberwolves who had just beaten them 134-114 on the previous night.
Starting with newly acquired Sabonis and Holiday the Kings had a tremendous start with their new-look team, playing a back-to-back game with the Timberwolves.
In a 132-119 win, the 25-year-old center who is averaging over 18-12-5 for the season put up 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists.
