Reviewing the Tyrese Haliburton-Domantas Sabonis trade one month later

On February 8, the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers made one of the more head-scratching swaps of the trade deadline. Sacramento sent promising young guard Tyrese Haliburton to Indiana in a package for All-Star center Domantas Sabonis.

While the move looked like a win-now swing for the Kings, Sacramento has gone 4-8 since Sabonis joined the team, while the Pacers have fared no better with a 3-8 record.

Looking back at the Tyrese Haliburton-Domantas Sabonis deal one month later, who, if anyone, won the trade?

In addition to Sabonis, the Kings added Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, and a 2023 second-round pick. In 12 games so far, Holiday has contributed 8.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game, while Lamb has contributed 9.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in the six games that he’s played.

The real prize of the trade for Sacramento, Sabonis, has put up averages of around 17 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists, which is roughly on par with his season-long averages.

Indiana’s haul of Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson have been playing well since the trade. Although, Thompson is now doing his playing in Chicago after being waived by the Pacers soon after the trade.

Haliburton has continued to shine in Indiana, posting numbers of 19.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 9.5 assists since the trade. Hield, in particular, has seen a jump in production in his new setting, posting 19.5/5.5/5.6 averages in Indiana after putting up just 14.4/1.9/4.0 in Sacramento.

While neither group’s performances have translated to a good record, the Pacers appear to be in a better position in the wake of this trade. In addition to Haliburton and Hield, the Pacers have Malcolm Brogdon under contract long-term, as well as promising rookie wing Chris Duarte, who could be part of a talented core for Indiana moving forward.

As they continue to slide down the standings this season, the Pacers could also find themselves in a good position to add more star talent early in the draft this year.

The Kings, on the other hand, are in a less flexible situation. They owe long-term money committed to both De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, as well as center Richaun Holmes.

Their cap flexibility is further restricted by Harrison Barnes, whose large contract doesn’t end until after the 2022-23 season. With Sacramento’s performance since the trade, they may not have found the contending core they were hoping for with this win-now move.

With a 24-44 record, the Kings also find themselves in a position to potentially find a star high in the draft. But while that seems like a positive, it only makes the trade more perplexing.

If the Kings do luck into young star talent in the draft, wouldn’t it have made more sense to pair them with another young star like Haliburton, rather than the older Sabonis?

The short-term results of this trade have been uninspiring. Neither team got better, but neither got much worse. The key difference, though, is that the Kings made this move to get better in the near term – and that didn’t happen. The Pacers made this move for the future, and they have plenty of time to see how it unfolds.

One month later, it looks like the Haliburton-Sabonis swap opened lots of doors for Indiana. For Sacramento, it left them with just one way out of mediocrity – and Kings fans can only hope that Sabonis and Fox can lead them out of it.