NBA News: Kings Move Tyrese Haliburton to Pacers, Land Sabonis

The Sacramento Kings have been looking to make a move to bolster their roster in hopes of making the playoffs this season. Ever since the start of the Ben
NBA News: Kings Move Tyrese Haliburton to Pacers, Land Sabonis
NBA News: Kings Move Tyrese Haliburton to Pacers, Land Sabonis /

The Sacramento Kings have been looking to make a move to bolster their roster in hopes of making the playoffs this season. Ever since the start of the Ben Simmons saga in Philadelphia, Sacramento has had eyes on Ben Simmons.

At the time, the Kings were willing to part ways with a package headlined by Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley. However, the Sixers were only interested if one of Sacramento's young standouts, De'Aaron Fox or Tyrese Haliburton, had involvement.

The Kings weren't willing to break up their young backcourt at the time. While trade talks between the Sixers and the Kings continued months later, the 76ers weren't interested in Fox. As for Haliburton, they liked the second-year guard but didn't like the idea of Haliburton being the centerpiece in a Simmons trade.

A couple of weeks ago, the Kings closed the book on Ben Simmons and looked into other options. As the trade deadline is just a couple of days away, Sacramento made its big splash on Tuesday.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Kings are trading Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thomson to the Indiana Pacers. In exchange, the Pacers will send their standout big man Damontas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday, and a 2027 second-round pick to Sacramento. 

Although the Sixers were unlikely to settle for a Haliburton-centric package ahead of the deadline, the second-year standout is officially off the table for the Sixers with that move. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_. 


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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA