New Report Reveals How Close Pacers Were to Not Getting Tyrese Haliburton in 2022 originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Sacramento Kings traded Tyrese Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers on Feb. 8, 2022. Since then, the Kings have made the playoffs once, losing in the first round of the 2023 postseason to the Golden State Warriors in seven games.

The Indiana Pacers are just three wins away from their first-ever NBA championship, and Tyrese Haliburton is a big reason why. Haliburton has had a magical postseason, and Pacers GM Chad Buchanan spoke to The Athletic about their decision to acquire him from the Sacramento Kings in 2022.

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton is preparing to play in the NBA Finals for the first time and is firmly established as one of the best players in the league. Yet the satisfaction level never sinks in for the former three-star recruit at Oshkosh North in Wisconsin and the player traded by the Sacramento Kings just 109 games into his career.