Tyrese Haliburton’s latest story is the kind that keeps the Sacramento Kings’ old wound wide open.
On the Numbers On The Board podcast, Haliburton revisited what he was hearing from the Kings after his rookie season, and the message he got makes the 2022 trade sting all over again. “They were telling me after my rookie year ‘Hey man you’re gonna be here awhile, you should look into buying a house’, I was like ‘I’m good, I’m good, I don’t gotta worry bout nothin’.”
Haliburton says the Kings told him to buy a house in Sacramento after his rookie season because he’d “be there awhile”: “They were telling me after my rookie year ‘Hey man you’re gonna be here awhile, you should look into buying a house’, I was like ‘I’m good, I’m good,… pic.twitter.com/QmIhMlOC1l
That detail lands hard because the trade itself already blindsided him. Sacramento sent Haliburton to the Indiana Pacers for Domantas Sabonis in a move that still gets second-guessed, and it looks even rougher now that the Kings are trying to move on from Sabonis’ big contract while reshaping the roster.
It has been four and a half years since the deal that changed both franchises, and the Haliburton-Kings connection still lingers. Plenty of Sacramento fans may have filed it away, but every new Haliburton anecdote pulls the story back into view.
The bigger issue for the Kings now is that the people who made that call are gone. Monte McNair and the rest of that front office have been replaced by Scott Perry, and the hope is that Perry brings more steadiness and leadership to the job.
Sacramento can’t undo what happened with Haliburton, but it can avoid repeating the same mistakes. The new front office has Darius Acuff Jr. as part of the rebuild, and he has a chance to become the next star in Sacramento, maybe even more than Haliburton did. Unlike Haliburton, though, Acuff won’t have to navigate the same kind of positional squeeze with De’Aaron Fox and Davion Mitchell.
That makes the communication piece crucial. If Acuff turns into exactly what the Kings hope he will be, the organization has to be direct about where he stands and what the plan is.
The nightmare scenario is obvious: Acuff becomes a star, then decides he wants out in a few years. A trade like that would hit Sacramento even harder than the Haliburton deal and send the franchise back to square one.
Perry has the pieces in front of him. The question is whether he can keep the Kings from slipping back into the habits that made the Haliburton trade such a painful one in the first place.
In Other News...
Kings Final Roster Battle Is Heating Up In The Backcourt
With training camp approaching, the Kings are still sorting through the backcourt market and have lined up workouts for veteran options as they look to fill out the end of the roster. Sacramento has 13 players under contract and two openings after waiving DeMar DeRozan, which leaves the front office with a little flexibility and a need to keep adding competition before camp opens.
Among the names on the radar is Cameron Payne, while Elfrid Payton is also set to get a look as the team weighs experience and fit behind its established guards. The Kings have also continued to monitor Victor Oladipo, and his summer pro day in Las Vegas drew team personnel, another sign that Sacramento is still exploring every realistic path as it tries to settle a crowded but unfinished guard picture. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Suddenly Have A Point Guard Decision Fans Should Watch
The Kings are still sorting out what their backcourt looks like behind rookie Darius Acuff Jr., and the search for a veteran point guard has quietly become one of the more interesting roster questions around the team. With Russell Westbrook retired, Sacramento has been weighing experienced options to help steady the room, and Victor Oladipo has been part of that conversation while the front office continues to look for the right fit.
Aaron Holiday has emerged as another name worth watching, and he makes sense on paper as a possible mentor and backup. The 29-year-old brings NBA experience, three-point shooting, defense and playmaking, and he could fit on a veteran minimum deal, which keeps him in the range of a practical add rather than a flashy one. For a team trying to support a young lead guard without overcommitting resources, this is the kind of decision that can shape the tone of the bench for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Heat Priorities Could Decide Whether DeMar DeRozan Stays In Play
Denvers roster squeeze has created an opening that could matter well beyond one transaction, because the team now sits at just 13 players after moving Peyton Watson to Cleveland for future draft capital. The deal brought back a 2031 unprotected first-round pick and a 2032 second-round pick, but no immediate help, and the front office is now being forced to weigh how to fill out the depth chart while staying mindful of the second apron.
One name already tied to that vacancy is DeMar DeRozan, though the fit is far from simple. Denver would like to add veteran scoring on a minimum contract, but DeRozans camp is said to be looking for exception-level money, which the Nuggets cannot realistically hand out under their current financial constraints. For a team trying to balance win-now urgency with roster limits, the question is whether the market narrows enough for a deal to become workable. [Read more 🡒]