Indiana Pacers: Re-grading the Haliburton-Sabonis trade two months later

The Indiana Pacers are assured to finish this season posting their worst record in a single campaign for the first time since *checks calendar* the 1988-89 season. Having secured just 25 victories against 54 losses with only three games remaining, the Blue and Gold’s record could be even worse, as they are on deck to end the season as heavy underdogs in their leftover contests.

However, fans have seen this coming. With the Pacers limping out of the gates to begin the season, their campaign rapidly fell into the abyss, pushing the front office to make substantial changes to the roster after years of preaching continuity despite a lack of definitive success. The franchise lost a bona fide All-Star player in Domantas Sabonis, but their narrative quickly became more lustrous with the arrival of Tyrese Haliburton.

Did the Indiana Pacers get the long end of the stick in their trade with the Sacramento Kings?

Nearly two months later, both the Indiana Pacers and the Sacramento Kings are firmly out of the postseason, despite pulling off the massive trade. However, their situations couldn’t be more distinct from each other, with each team pulling the trigger in contrasting directions concerning roster-building.

While it hasn’t been that long since the trade, and the sample size to measure how both teams fared after the trade isn’t that big, there are an array of observable impacts that the swap has provided both franchises. Without further ado, we re-grade the Pacers-Kings trade featuring Haliburton and Sabonis.