On February 12, Beijing time, in an NBA regular season game that has ended today, the Indiana Pacers lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-120 at home.
In this game, Pacers new signing Teres Halliburton ushered in his first game for the Pacers. He played 39 minutes, shooting 9-of-15, including 4-of-6 from three-point range, and efficiently had 23 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.
Halliburton was selected with the twelfth pick in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft and played well in his first season. As a young player that the Kings focus on cultivating, Halliburton has been given a lot of opportunities this season.
He averaged 34.6 minutes per game and was able to finish with 14.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.7 steals. Shooting 46.1 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from three-point range.
Although Halliburton's talent is outstanding, he is also good enough on the field. But the Kings already have young and talented defenders like Daron Fox in their squad, so Haliburton is not a non-sale for the Kings.
The Pacers, in particular, sent all-Star interior Domantas Sabonis, for both teams. The Pacers have two excellent interior lines, Turner and Sabonis, and the two of them don't perform well on the court at the same time.
Kings Haliburton and Fox are both young defenders with potential and both need games and ball rights to grow, so the Kings chose to send Halburton away. But the Kings didn't get very good leverage in the Haliburton deal, and some teams didn't even know that Halliburton could be traded, and the whole league was shocked.