Tyrese Haliburton Resented Sacramento Kings For Trading Him

The Sacramento Kings kicked off a whirlwind week of trades ahead of the 2022 edition of the NBA trade deadline, surprising other franchises when they moved Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers.

Haliburton was joined by Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson in a trade package for the Kings to get Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and Domantas Sabonis.

Many questioned the Kings for moving Haliburton as it was believed he was going to be the undisputed point guard of the future, with De'Aaron Fox being the one shipped off.

As for any young player perceived to be the cornerstone of a franchise before being blindsided, Haliburton recently spoke with Basketball News to talk about his experience.

"Before I got traded, I felt invincible. I was playing really well. Right before I got traded, I had 13 [points] and 17 [assists]. I wasn't worried," Haliburton said.

"I'm not gonna lie—for a while, it was just complete resentment towards, honestly, everybody in the organization if I'm being quite frank, even people who had nothing to do with [the trade]. It was just resentment towards the organization as a whole. And that was so immature of me."

He was averaging 14.3 points, 7.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game as a member of the Kings last season, but those numbers took a big leap forward with the Pacers, putting up 17.5 points, 9.6 assists, 1.8 steals in 26 games.

Though the numbers are from a small sample size, it is an encouraging sign for both him and the organization moving forward as they seem to have their point guard of the future.

Looking back at his experience, Haliburton has no regrets about what happened between him and the Kings.

"If I'm being completely honest, that [trade] is such a blessing for me. It's a complete blessing for me to be in the situation that I'm in, to have the ability to showcase what I can do and play my natural position," he stated.

Haliburton and Fox were practically competing anytime they were both available to play since their skills overlapped mightily, with the pair sharing lead guard duties depending on who was hot or not.

Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan believes Haliburton has the potential to be the "next Reggie Miller" and reiterated their commitment to building a contender around him.

Now as the main man on his own team, the former Iowa Cyclone will have a chance to prove that his showing last season was not a fluke and that the Pacers were right to make a move for him.