Despite being the one to break the news regarding the Sacramento Kings‘ blockbuster trade with the Indiana Pacers ahead of the trade deadline, it seems not even ESPN’s NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski can believe the deal actually went down. About an hour into the aftermath of the massive trade, Woj appeared on television to discuss the nature of the deal. Throughout his explanation, it seems Wojnarowski struggled to understand the Kings’ thought process on trading away their franchise cornerstone in Tyrese Haliburton.
Overall, Woj seems shocked that the Kings were willing to let go of Haliburton, suggesting that NBA executives from other teams were operating under the impression that the 21-year-old was unavailable. Woj indicated that the Kings’ front office was extremely high on Haliburton, making this decision all the more surprising, and even downright confusing.
Despite the feeling that Haliburton was all-in on turning around the Kings’ fortune as a building block of the team’s future, the Kings opted to include him in the deal to acquire Domantas Sabonis, settling instead to reshape around of core consisting of De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis.
The Pacers will now look to move forward with a roster consisting of talented young players such as Haliburton and rookie Chris Duarte, as well as Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner, though the ladder’s future with the team remains uncertain. If you ask Woj, the trade was an absolute win for Indiana.
