As the Indiana Pacers hold the Eastern Conference, the trade that led Tyrees Halliburton to town is difficult to ignore.
The Indiana Pacers look like the best team in the postseason through seven playoff games. In the first round, they knocked out Giannis Antetocomo and the Milwaukee Bucks in five games, taking a 2-0 series lead with the already seeded Cleveland Cavaliers.
At the heart of that is young All-Star Point Guard Tyrees Halliburton, who solidified himself as the face of the franchise. On Pacer’s historic two comebacks, he hit the shots he won in the game in each game.
In 2022, the Pacers traded for the young star and sent second picks to the Sacramento Kings for Justin Holiday, Jeremy Ram, Domantas Sabonis, Halliburton, Buddy Hald and Tristan Thompson.
Trade was considered a win-win at the time, but it was clear that the Pacers had appeared on the top.
Since 2022, the Kings made the playoffs only once and lost in the first round. Pacer, meanwhile, appeared to have a young core to advance, poised to appear in the final of the second conference.
Former general manager Monte McNair knew King was giving up on a solid young player, but he thought it was a necessary sacrifice for the long-term team success.
“As we all know, Tyrees is a great player and a great guy,” McNair said. Carmichael Dave Shaw With Jason Ross in 2022.
“But in the end, we all know that we all need to give up something to get something. And we saw a unique opportunity to chase someone who is a two-time All-Star. The 25-year-old has a skill set that I think makes not just himself but all the players around him better.
The King made the postseason before the Pacers did, and their 2023 Sabonis, Dearon Fox, Harrison Burns, Keegan Murray and Malik Monk cores appeared to be competing for the next few seasons.
They have not made the playoffs since.
By swapping Halliburton, the king quickly succeeded and all in, and they seemed to have made the right move. Meanwhile, the Pacers raised responsibility for Miles Turner and closed the roster around Halliburton in exchange for Pascal Siakam.
Only one team really succeeded, and McNair’s prediction was completely wrong.
“Our stated goal is continuous success in the playoffs and playoffs, so through that lens, we want to make the playoffs as quickly as possible, but in a sustainable way, we can not only get there, but build from there,” he said in the same interview.
The king continues to do exactly what he feared. Make the playoffs faster in an unsustainable way.
Of course, McNair’s subsequent decisions, such as DeMar Derozan’s deal or De’aaron Fox’s gift to trading requests this season, did not help open the title window, but Halliburton is a better player than Fox, and imagining the Sacramento Halliburton and Sabonis duo is probably better than the actual outcome.