Tyrese Haliburton opens up on being traded off the Sacramento Kings — “For a while, it was just complete resentment towards, honestly, everybody in the organization” – Basketball Network

Tyrese Haliburton

One of the more surprising trades last season involved Tyrese Haliburton getting sent from the Sacramento Kings to the Indiana Pacers as part of the Domantas Sabonis trade. Haliburton is widely regarded as one of the brightest young talents in the game, so it was a shock to see the Kings send him to the Pacers less than two full seasons into his career.

Tyrese Haliburton was not happy about being traded off the Sacramento Kings

When news of the trade first broke, Haliburton was despondent. He was looking forward to building a winner alongside De’Aaron Fox and co. with the Kings, even as they were laboring through a rough 2021-22 campaign. Haliburton wanted to stay the course and help the Kings return to glory.

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Instead, he became a crucial piece in the Pacers’ rebuild. Haliburton was moved back to his natural point guard position and should be a part of the next great Pacers team. But the pain of being traded stuck with Haliburton, and it ate at him throughout the rest of the 2021-22 season.

“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. It’s funny — the other day I was just writing down regrets I have in my life, unfulfilled expectations, and resentments, and the only resentment I could come up with in my life right now is the Sacramento Kings. And it’s like, I don’t want to hold onto that.” shared Haliburton with Basketball News

Tyrese Haliburton has put his resentment towards the Sacramento Kings behind him

Haliburton’s sentiments towards the Kings are eye-opening. He was clearly invested in winning with the Kings, and he had a right to be upset with Sacramento for cutting him loose so soon after his career started. But to “completely resent” the entire Kings organization is a bit different, and Haliburton’s explanation of his feelings towards the trade certainly caught some attention. Luckily, it sounds like Haliburton has moved on and is focused on winning with the Pacers moving forward.

“If I’m being completely honest, that [trade] is such a blessing for me. It’s so easy now to look at it that way, but 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. It’s helping me a tone. So, you know, it’s love at the end of the day. It is what it is. Just taking a step back and self-reflecting on a lot of different things in life, I think it made me a bigger person and just have more self-awareness,” said Haliburton.

Haliburton has a tone of upside as a dominant two-way point guard, and he should be able to reach his potential with Indiana moving forward. It’s good to see that Tyrese has overcome the feelings of ill-will that he had towards the Kings in the immediate aftermath of the deal. And now that he’s focused on winning with the Pacers, the rest of the league may have to watch out for Haliburton, and the rest of his Indiana teammates come next season.

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