Tyrese Haliburton talks about the Pacers trading Buddy Hield on podcast

The Indiana Pacers made the decision to trade Buddy Hield right before the trade deadline. It was a move with the future in mind because Hield wasn't going to re-sign with the team after the year was over. Hield wanted an opportunity to start somewhere else too, although he's back on the bench now.

Trading Hield has had a clear effect on the Pacers. The piece they got in return for him, Doug McDermott, has hardly played. He's been hurt for the last few weeks and that has reduced the number of three-point shooters this team has. The three-point shooting in general hasn't been very good for the Pacers.

Having Hield would certainly help open up the offense more, especially with Bennedict Mathurin out for the year. It would also help teams lay off Tyrese Haliburton a little bit more. Then, maybe he wouldn't be struggling as bad as he is from three.

Tyrese Haliburton acknowledges Pacers' offense isn't as fluid without Buddy Hield

Speaking on Paul George's podcast Podcast P, Haliburton talked about the effect that trading Buddy has had on him on and off the court.

"“It’s been weird, it’s been weird for sure. I mean obviously I knew at one point we wouldn’t be able to play together for my whole career. But obviously with the trade and stuff, it’s been different and I think on the court is obvious, right? He’s so prominent in our offense with what we do with a lot of ghost screens and the way we move. His presence shooting on the floor, that opens up a ton for me because you [are] not going to be in as much in the gap if you’re guarding Buddy because you know how he is as a shooter. So it’s been a little different on the court, obviously. But I think off the court it’s been kinda the biggest adjustment for me. He just has always carried this energy around him and I think who he is as a person every day, not having that energy has been a little different.”"

- Tyrese Haliburton

He's certainly right about the on-court impact. The Pacers don't run Stack nearly as much because they don't have a player who can fire off a three as quickly as Hield. The gravity that he pulls around him from defenses has not been replicated by the rest of the Pacers' starters.

Perhaps that off-court energy has affected Haliburton's shooting slump too. Hield was the most positive guy in the locker room. Perhaps if they had him still there, Haliburton could have shaken out of this slump a little faster.

There's nothing to be done about it now. All we can hope is that Haliburton works through his slump and McDermott gets back and adds some shooting soon.