Tyrese Haliburton didn’t exactly welcome the Knicks’ championship celebration with open arms. At first, the Pacers guard wanted nothing to do with it. Then curiosity got the better of him.
“When the Knicks won, I thought to myself, ‘I gotta turn this s- off,’” Haliburton said during an appearance on the Boardroom Talks podcast, via Pacers On SI.
Haliburton was sidelined last season while working back from a torn Achilles, which meant he had to sit and watch Indiana’s rival finish a run he believed the Pacers could have interrupted. When asked whether the Pacers would have beaten New York if he had been healthy, he didn’t hesitate.
“Of course,” he said. “I’m an NBA player.
I’m a competitor. Anybody else in my situation would say the same thing.”
That answer came without any shot at what New York accomplished. Haliburton eventually watched Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns celebrate with their families, and he made clear that the friendship is real until the game starts.
“When I see them, when they see me on the court, it’s smoke,” Haliburton said. “We hate each other when we’re playing, but after that, it’s love.”
In Sacramento, the mood around the Kings is a lot less celebratory, but not entirely hopeless. The team is landing near the bottom of preseason power rankings after a 22-60 season, yet Will Zimmerle of Kings On SI argued the roster may be more workable than its reputation.
General manager Scott Perry kept Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine instead of moving either veteran for a lesser return. LaVine’s expiring deal could open up major flexibility next summer, while Sabonis still gives the Kings a proven offensive anchor.
Sacramento also added help on the defensive side. A group that includes rookie guard Darius Acuff Jr., De’Andre Hunter, Ben Simmons, Keegan Murray and Precious Achiuwa should give the team more size and resistance than it had last season.
Even so, the bigger picture remains muddy. The roster looks stuck between rebuilding and trying to win now, which is a big reason the skepticism hangs around. The new relegation system gives the Kings even more motivation to stay out of the bottom three, but low expectations only go so far.
The bottom line in Sacramento is simple enough: the Kings have more usable pieces than some of the rankings suggest. They still have to show those pieces fit.
Phoenix, meanwhile, has a different kind of problem. The Suns shocked the league by finishing ninth in defensive efficiency last season, and holding onto a top-10 defense may take a slightly different approach this time around.
The Suns were fourth in steals at 9.5 per game and held opponents to 34.7 percent shooting from three, the league’s second-best mark. But their pressure dipped after the All-Star break, and they still had issues protecting the rim area.
Brendan Mau of Suns On SI pointed to Miles Bridges and the team’s young centers as two possible keys to staying in the top 10.
Bridges gives Phoenix another big, switchable wing next to Dillon Brooks, which should help against larger scorers without forcing Devin Booker or Jordan Goodwin to carry every tough perimeter matchup.
The center spot remains unsettled because of Mark Williams’ injury. Khaman Maluach and Oso Ighodaro posted better defensive ratings than Williams in their minutes last season, though those numbers came in smaller samples and don’t guarantee the same impact with a bigger workload.
Even with those questions, the Suns’ biggest edge may still be Jordan Ott’s system. The players pressured the ball, rotated hard and generally bought into their assignments.
Phoenix has the wings to make life uncomfortable and enough young size to test different looks. Whether that defense stays among the league’s best will come down to whether last season’s effort holds up with more responsibility and new combinations.
In Other News...
Pat Spencer Suddenly Has A Real Suns Opportunity
The Suns are sorting through one more camp wrinkle after inviting center Duop Reath to training camp, a move that could ripple through the bottom of the roster before opening night. Phoenix has already been juggling its depth chart, and another frontcourt body only adds to the pressure of making every spot count as the team pieces together the final roster.
Pat Spencer stands to be one of the players watching that process closely. With fewer bodies fighting for the same backcourt minutes, the two-way guard could find a clearer path to earn a larger role, and in a camp where every opportunity matters, even one added roster decision can change the conversation quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Suddenly Have A Training Camp Battle That Really Matters
Mark Williams shoulder surgery has turned the Suns last roster spot into a real camp storyline, with Phoenix now carrying three players in the mix as training camp opens on September 29. Duop Reath, Jamaree Bouyea and Haywood Highsmith all head into the fall with something to prove, and the early preseason schedule gives them little time to make their case before the roster starts to tighten.
The Suns must trim down to 15 players by October 19, which means every practice and exhibition run carries added weight for the end of the bench. First impressions in camp often decide these kinds of battles, and with the first preseason game set for October 5, Phoenix will get a quick look at who can separate himself before the front office has to make the call. [Read more 🡒]
Suns Still Have One Defensive Problem New Faces Must Fix
Phoenix spent last season building a defense that could hang with the better teams in the league, and the formula was clear enough: pressure the ball, force turnovers and keep opponents from getting comfortable from beyond the arc. The Suns ended the 2025-26 season with a top-10 defense, and the additions around the roster this summer suggest they want to keep that identity while adding more size and versatility to the mix. Miles Bridges should help there as a new starter, bringing a broader defensive profile to a group that already has several rotation pieces capable of contributing on that end.
Still, the bigger question for Phoenix is whether the front line can solve the interior issues that have shown up at different points, especially as the season wore on and turnover creation became less reliable. The Suns do have depth at center with Oso Ighodaro and Khaman Maluach, both of whom gave the team encouraging defensive minutes last season, and that gives the coaching staff options as it tries to shore up the middle. For a team trying to stay among the better defenses in the West, the next step is making sure the new faces do more than blend in - they have to clean up the one area that still leaves the Suns exposed. [Read more 🡒]