It's hard to remember, but there was a time that the Kings had two of the best young point guards in the league in Tyrese Haliburton and De'Aaron Fox. Now, a new season of Starting 5 is revealing how painful the Indiana trade was for Haliburton and how it stuck with him.
Starting 5 is a Netflix a documentary series that follows five NBA players through a season. One of this season's superstars is Tyrese Haliburton, who currently plays for the Indiana Pacers but started his career with the Sacramento Kings.
Fox was drafted by the Kings 5th overall in 2017. They followed this up in 2020 by drafting Haliburton at 12th overall, proving the front office's weird guard hoarding tendencies have been going on for years. Though they did attempt to balance things a bit, just in a way that surprised Hali.
Just before the 2022 trade deadline, the Kings were part of a trade that sent Haliburton to the Pacers and brought center Domantas Sabonis to Sacramento. The duo of Fox and Sabonis had promise, thought it was never fully realized before Fox was also traded away at his request in 2025.
Haliburton takes a hit
In Season 2, Episode 5 "Ring Chasing" of Starting 5, both Haliburton and his long-time girlfriend Jade Jones talked about how difficult the news of the trade was for them. They described starting to put down roots in Sacramento one minute, then selling everything they couldn't move next.
"People in the Sacramento front office were telling me to start looking for houses because I was going to be there a long time. So, when we got traded, there was this, like, ultimate shock, of course. We were selling our furniture through, like, Facebook Marketplace..."
Tyrese Haliburton
He may not have said it outright in that moment, but it's safe to infer from Haliburton's comments that he felt misled by the Kings' front office. Jones would go on to explain how little time there was to feel the deep emotions of the moment, then move on to the next tea.
"Tyrese and I were both disappointed, that was our first emotion...he really didn't have the answers. He was only in his second year, so it just happened so fast. Like, we were just getting accustomed to the community and the team. They get traded, they're expected to be in the next game within 48 hours. So, it's, like, you have time to sulk for a little bit, and then you have to get yourself together and get on the plane to go play in the next game. So, then we were just off to Indiana."
Jade Jones
In later comments, Haliburton describes continuing to feel like he could be traded at any moment and knowing that's part of the business side of the game. At the same time, there's a certain level of trauma to these moves that fans don't see. That came out in a big way during the Doncic trade.
While Sabonis has been good for Sacramento, it's safe to say that Haliburton has gone on to have an incredible career in Indiana. That being said, maybe hanging onto Tyrese would have been good for the Kings. They might be in a better position at point guard, now.