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.
How did the trade turn out for the Indiana Pacers?
On their part, the Indiana Pacers acquired Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson. The first two were quickly integrated as featured players on the team’s attack, while the latter had a short stint in the Circle City before signing with Chicago.
The Pacers have had a poor 6-17 record since pulling the trigger on the trade, but this is in large part due to their big pivot to a youth movement, as compared to the first half of the season when they were riding an overdue core.
Now, Indiana is led by Haliburton, a modern point guard prototype that can score and facilitate in high frequency. In 23 games donning the Blue and Gold, the sophomore floor general has logged 17.3 points and an astonishing 9.8 assists per game. Beyond the numbers, however, Haliburton has given the franchise a lot more clarity direction-wise, as he profiles as a franchise cornerstone that they can build around for years to come, something they never resolutely clinched with Sabonis.
Alas, Buddy Hield, the other major part of the deal, has been a wonderful addition to Indiana. His future with the franchise remains a question mark, but he has managed to steer clear from being too one-dimensional, thriving in the Pacers’ fast-paced offense as a secondary release valve on the playmaking department. Ultimately, he should be a valuable asset to the team in the near future.
The culmination of the benefits of this trade may not manifest itself in the most proximate season to follow. The trade is not perfect, as they could have arguably fished out some semblance of draft compensation from the Kings, but this trade has undoubtedly breathed new life into a franchise that has long traversed the cycle of mediocrity.
Grade: A-
How did the trade turn out for the Sacramento Kings?
On the other hand, the Sacramento Kings have gone 9-14 since the trade which landed them Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, and a second-round pick, but extracting why the move was met with jeers from their side is not rocket science at all.
Unlike the Pacers, which pushed the green light on the move to make a swift rebuild and shed away an era of middling competitiveness, the Kings pulled the trigger to bolster their positioning in the playoff field out West. Fast forward to the present, and Sacramento is currently touting a 29-50 record, good for 12th in the conference. Oh, and playoffs? The Kings have now missed the postseason for 16 straight years, an NBA record, and a drought unlike no other.
The puzzling thing about the Kings is that while they had good reason to trade for Sabonis, an extraordinary talent, Haliburton was far from the right sacrifice. Sure, De’Aaron Fox is an All-Star caliber player, but the sophomore arguably has the higher ceiling as a winning contributor with his more well-rounded game. Sorry, but nobody from Indiana will aim for a time machine to catapult Hali back to Sac-Town.
With the Western Conference still loaded with both veteran contenders and up-and-comers, there isn’t really a convincing way for the Kings to suddenly storm into playoff contention, especially when their averred win-now core cannot even get past injury-riddled teams like the Clippers and Pelicans, the rebuilding Spurs, the dysfunctional Lakers, and before they craved the tank, the deflated Trail Blazers.
Still, I hope that Sacramento finally breaks that depressing streak of ineptitude. It has to be over at some point, right?
Grade: C