Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton has been putting together another All-Star level season during the 2023-2024 campaign. The fourth-year guard out of Iowa State continues to draw attention this season because of his stellar play. Through 29 games played so far, he is averaging career bests with 24.7 points per game and 12.7 assists per game. Haliburton also boasts the NBA’s best assist to turnover ratio so far this season. This is an elite rise from one of the league’s brightest young talents. Often overlooked because of the team he plays for, the Iowa State product should be mentioned in relation to other young superstars like Trae Young, Ja Morant, Anthony Edwards, and Tyrese Maxey.
Drafted with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings, Haliburton spent his first year and a half playing in the shadow of De’Aaron Fox. When selected by Sacramento, the Kings did not expect the immediate impact of Haliburton and his strong ball handling ability to rival that of Fox’s. This left the franchise with the issue of having two extremely young and talented point guards on their roster with only one basketball to go around. Historically, having two elite players with the same skillset doesn’t work out. This was observed during the fall of the Net’s Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. The Kings did not want a similar problem on their hands.
As Sacramento entered win-now mode, they decided to part ways with Haliburton in exchange for star forward Domantas Sabonis of the Indiana Pacers. This trade solved the ball handling problem by allowing Fox to have complete control and it gave the point guard much needed help in the post. For Haliburton, this move completely changed his career for the better, as it has allowed him to fully embrace the point guard role with a rebuilding roster.
Since the trade, Haliburton has continued to prosper and develop into one of the league’s best young players. In 2022-2023, he was named to his first All-Star team as a reserve for averaging a double-double with 20.7 points per game and 10.4 assists per game. This season, he has put together multiple All-Pro level performances. He finished 1 rebound shy of a triple double against the Milwaukee Bucks on New Year’s Day and had a 21 point – 20 assist stat line against the Chicago Bulls in late December. Overall, his time with Indiana has been nothing short of spectacular. In fact, his current stats are better than the stats of Steve Nash during his MVP campaign during the 2004-2005 season.
Of course, basketball is much more than just personal stats. With Haliburton, the Pacer’s faithful have experienced a team that is getting comfortable with the idea of winning. Since the days of Paul George, Indiana has been in a rut near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The only realistic goal for the franchise during that time was making the playoffs as the 7th or 8th seed only to be blown out by a contender. However, with the young star leading the way and looking like an All-NBA caliber player, the Pacers have a bright future. They currently hold a playoff spot and earned runner-up honors in the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament.
Haliburton has brought excitement back to Indiana basketball. The Pacers are on their way to a return to NBA relevance. Not often does a trade work out great for both teams involved. But for Indiana and Sacramento, the situation could not have gone better both for the franchises but also for the individual players.
