NBA News: Tyrese Haliburton 'Thought It Was A Joke' About Being Traded To Pacers

Emerging point guard Tyrese Haliburton has never been shy about showing his love for the Sacramento Kings and was as shocked as the rest of the NBA about his trade to the Indiana Pacers.

Speaking on ESPN’s NBA Today, Haliburton detailed how he found out about the surprising development at the conclusion of last week’s NBA trade deadline.

“I got a call from my agent about 30 minutes before [the trade happened] and he said, ‘I think you might get traded.’ I thought it was a joke, if I’m being honest with you. Next thing I knew, our GM [Kings GM Monte McNair] called me 30 minutes later and was like, ‘we’re trading you to Indiana’, and I was gone,” Haliburton recalled.

The trade certainly came out of left field as trade rumors throughout the season reported that the Kings were not putting Haliburton on the table in any trade deal.

Sacramento put together a package headlined by Haliburton and three-point marksman Buddy Hield to acquire Pacers All-Star Domantas Sabonis, swingman Jeremy Lamb and Justin Holiday.

“Yeah, to say the least. [I] had absolutely no indication and no idea that I was [going to] get traded. My friends were messaging me like ‘are you scared about the [trade] deadline?’ and I was just like ‘I’m good’,” Haliburton stated.

Haliburton has been on an absolute tear since joining the Pacers, putting up 20.8 points on 48.3 percent field goal shooting, 11 assists and 2.3 steals in the past four games.

Fans and observers alike have been questioning the decision to trade away Haliburton as it was thought that his then backcourt partner De’Aaron Fox would be the one to be moved.

The problem with a Fox trade is that his contract is worth a total of around $134.7 million until the conclusion of the 2025-26 NBA season, while Haliburton is still on his rookie-scale contract worth around north of $14 million until the 2024-25 season with a team option.

The 20-year-old from the Iowa State Cyclones also confirmed in his “NBA Today” appearance that he will be having a much bigger role with the Pacers moving forward as their starting point guard as they undergo a soft rebuild.

Haliburton will get to strut his stuff in front of an even bigger audience when he participates in the Rising Stars Challenge this Friday, February 18 to kick off the NBA All-Star Weekend.