Kings-Pacers trade grades: Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield to Indiana; Domantas Sabonis heads to Sacramento
CBSN
The Pacers and Kings made the biggest trade of the deadline so far
The Indiana Pacers are trading Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday and a protected 2023 second-round pick to the Sacramento Kings for Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson, CBS Sports NBA insider Bill Reiter confirms. Both sides had been heavily featured in trade rumors of late, and now, they are helping one another shuffle the deck two days before the deadline.
The Kings had long-coveted Sabonis, but rumors of a possible deal involving De'Aaron Fox had been refuted. It had been widely reported that the Kings were planning to build around Fox rather than trade him, but apparently, their other top young guard in Haliburton was available after all. In Sabonis, the Kings land a two-time All-Star who represents Fox's best hope yet at a real co-star.
For the Pacers, trading Sabonis means breaking up his long-time partnership with Myles Turner. Indiana can now move forward with Turner as its long-term option at center and a revamped backcourt with Haliburton and Hield to go alone with Chris Duarte and Malcolm Brogdon. With Turner still injured, Indiana has taken a step back this season, but has positioned itself well to come back into the playoff race a year from now.
