Tyrese Haliburton reveals the two teams he was not willing to go to in the NBA Draft
Tyrese Haliburton fell to the No. 12 pick in the 2020 NBA draft, getting selected by the Sacramento Kings. It was surprising back then since Haliburton was a top-five talent and there were rumors that he forced his way to Sacramento. However, the two-time NBA All-Star came clean and revealed the two teams he didn't want to play for.
In an interview with Arizona Sports, Haliburton was asked if he avoided playing for the Phoenix Suns which forced them to take Jalen Smith. He denied the rumors and explained that he was open to playing for the Suns as well as any other NBA team except for the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers.
"No, that's incorrect. That's definitely not the case. I was open to going anywhere that wasn't those two teams. And any team that didn't pick me, I don't know," Haliburton said.
Tyrese Haliburton was not interested in playing for the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers because of Trae Young and Darius Garland, respectively. Haliburton didn't want to play behind two of the best young guards in the NBA at the time.
While the Sacramento Kings had De'Aaron Fox on their roster when they selected Haliburton out of Iowa State, the two guards complimented each other's game. Fox was the starter and Haliburton came off the bench the majority of his rookie season.
However, they would also play together at times until the Kings decided to use Haliburton to get their hands on Domantas Sabonis. It was a win-win trade for both teams, with Sacramento finally making the playoffs in 2023 before failing this year despite a winning record.
On the other hand, the Pacers found their core player in Haliburton and he led them to the playoffs last season. They reached the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2014 when the Pacers had Paul George.
Tyrese Haliburton excited to represent Team USA in the Olympics
Tyrese Haliburton was part of the Team USA roster that failed to win the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Haliburton will return to the team for the Paris Olympics along with Anthony Edwards. The Indiana Pacers star is not afraid of the pressure on the team to bring another gold medal.
"How can you not want to do this? We watched our role models and guys that we looked up to represent USA Basketball and I knew I wanted to be a part of that. Because people that I looked up to were part of that, and people they looked up to were part of that. ... There is a gold standard, especially in the United States. It’s gold medal or you fail, but I think that pressure is good for us. That pressure is exciting," Haliburton told Sporting News.