Woj: Domantas Sabonis, J. Lamb, J. Holiday Traded to Sacramento for Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, T. Thompson

[KingFox]

It's a win-win for both teams. Both players looking good in their new team environment

[SNPA]

It's obviously only been 2 games, but the some pretty interesting takes from the first 2 games.

1. Our team passing has improved. We have been over our season average by a good amount both games. The ball is touching more hands every possession. No more Fox, Buddy, and Hali all taking turns dribbling the air out of the ball.
2. Our team is rebounding muchhhh better. After losing the rebounding battle badly to Minnesota, we dominated the glass the next day when Sabonis came. We did the same against Washington.
3. Getting rid of Buddy was the biggest addition by subtraction. Such a low IQ player who insisted on jacking up bad shots and completely swinging games for the opponent. Incredible to shed his last 2 years.
4. Barnes/Fox benefited incredibly from playing off Sabonis. They shifted down to option 1b and 3, far better
5. Team body language is night and day. They went from looking like they absolutely hated playing together, to having fun.

Hali is a special player, hes got a chance to make this look bad for Sac in a few years. But very early results, it looks like a win-win.

Early results being key. I’ve always liked Sabonis. I liked his dad’s game too and I think giving up just about everything but Hali to get him is justifiable. He’ll make Sac better near-mid term. But giving up Hali is dumb and done to save McNair’s job. Both things can be true.

[loveandbeer]

Kings got dominated today. Sabonis with 9 points, 4-11 FG.

Haliburton had 22/16 with just 3 TOs yesterday.

Still early though.

[Lalouie]

weird.

a team with nowhere to go should opt for youth because whatever their timeline is,,,,it's lonnnng

instead they trade their youth for vets. this means they'r STILL cr@ppy, but older

[NoDopeOnSundays]

I thought this trade was terrible when it happened, and now it looks like one of the worst of the last 10-15 years. I can't even understand what the Kings were thinking, Haliburton is already a better player than Fox and Sabonis.

[Sactowndog]

I thought this trade was terrible when it happened, and now it looks like one of the worst of the last 10-15 years. I can't even understand what the Kings were thinking, Haliburton is already a better player than Fox and Sabonis.

He is not better than Fox but he is a very good player and I hated the trade but not as bad as you describe it.

[Duffman100]

Wow, they gave up Haliburton...

I’m still surprised.

[prime1time]

I thought this trade was terrible when it happened, and now it looks like one of the worst of the last 10-15 years. I can't even understand what the Kings were thinking, Haliburton is already a better player than Fox and Sabonis.

He is not better than Fox but he is a very good player and I hated the trade but not as bad as you describe it.

Fox doesn't win. I'm taking Haliburton.

[BK_2020]

I thought this trade was terrible when it happened, and now it looks like one of the worst of the last 10-15 years. I can't even understand what the Kings were thinking, Haliburton is already a better player than Fox and Sabonis.

He is not better than Fox but he is a very good player and I hated the trade but not as bad as you describe it.

Fox doesn't win. I'm taking Haliburton.

And Haliburton has won everywhere he went, right? Such as Sacramento and Indiana. Lmao.

[UcanUwill]

After sleeping on this trade, I really hated it for the Sacramento. I get that one of FOx or Hali should have been traded, but was Domantas Sabonis really it?
Pewf, I wasnt a hypocritical Lithuanian here, really not the biggest Sabonis fan. I would hold horses calling Hali a superstar or anything yet, we knew from the beggining he will put great stats and that yardsale team in Indy, but man, he just has so much more potential than the Indy package that Kings received.

Trades like this means the Kings know something about Haliburton that isn't public yet

Or maybe it means Kings are ran by the man who suggested his basketball team should play 4 on 5 defense with 1 guy staying on offense, cherry picking, like its Soccer or smth.

[Murray_17]

I thought this trade was terrible when it happened, and now it looks like one of the worst of the last 10-15 years. I can't even understand what the Kings were thinking, Haliburton is already a better player than Fox and Sabonis.

He is not better than Fox but he is a very good player and I hated the trade but not as bad as you describe it.

He actually is a lot better than Fox.

https://stathead.com/basketball/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1=halibty01&player_id2=foxde01

He's a better shooter, defender and playmaker. I don't think this is a close comparison.

If you add the contracts, this is a wash

[SNPA]

Dumb trade. McNair has some real clunkers.

But…Sabonis is a damn good player so it’s not like he got nothing.

[BrianInPhilly]

It’s amazing how so many fans are incapable of accounting for role, minutes, and usage when judging players. I said when the trade happened Haliburton was a better player than Sabonis even then. Now it’s obvious. Sabonis is skilled but as a non-defending big he is practically impossible to build around unless he’s your 4th or 5th best player.

And Haliburton is clearly better than Fox. Fox could average 40 a game and Haliburton would still be better. Things like controlling tempo, pace, intangibles, basketball IQ, involving teammates, even body language, Haliburton is clearly better at than Fox. Then scoring, shooting, play making side it’s not a competition. Of course this is assuming Fox didn’t suddenly turn into Steph Curry his 6th year in the league and his shooting comes down to earth. Win/loss record shows very little if a guy is a “winning player” especially as a young guy. Haliburton clearly has the IQ/intangibles to win though - similar to how Booker and Trae Young had it when they were losing.

[BK_2020]

It’s amazing how so many fans are incapable of accounting for role, minutes, and usage when judging players. I said when the trade happened Haliburton was a better player than Sabonis even then. Now it’s obvious. Sabonis is skilled but as a non-defending big he is practically impossible to build around unless he’s your 4th or 5th best player.

And Haliburton is clearly better than Fox. Fox could average 40 a game and Haliburton would still be better. Things like controlling tempo, pace, intangibles, basketball IQ, involving teammates, even body language, Haliburton is clearly better at than Fox. Then scoring, shooting, play making side it’s not a competition. Of course this is assuming Fox didn’t suddenly turn into Steph Curry his 6th year in the league and his shooting comes down to earth. Win/loss record shows very little if a guy is a “winning player” especially as a young guy. Haliburton clearly has the IQ/intangibles to win though - similar to how Booker and Trae Young had it when they were losing.

You'd have a pretty damn good team if Sabonis is your 4th or 5th best player.

[sackings916]

It’s amazing how so many fans are incapable of accounting for role, minutes, and usage when judging players. I said when the trade happened Haliburton was a better player than Sabonis even then. Now it’s obvious. Sabonis is skilled but as a non-defending big he is practically impossible to build around unless he’s your 4th or 5th best player.

And Haliburton is clearly better than Fox. Fox could average 40 a game and Haliburton would still be better. Things like controlling tempo, pace, intangibles, basketball IQ, involving teammates, even body language, Haliburton is clearly better at than Fox. Then scoring, shooting, play making side it’s not a competition. Of course this is assuming Fox didn’t suddenly turn into Steph Curry his 6th year in the league and his shooting comes down to earth. Win/loss record shows very little if a guy is a “winning player” especially as a young guy. Haliburton clearly has the IQ/intangibles to win though - similar to how Booker and Trae Young had it when they were losing.

It’s amazing to see someone speak on a subject they don’t know about

[BK_2020]

Winning or losing doesn't tell you whether a player is a winning player or not but here's some food for thought. Tyrese has not won in the NBA and in his two years in college, his team was 5-13 and 9-9 in conference play. They made the NCAA once as a 6th seed and got upset in the first round. He hasn't won since high school. This doesn't mean he's not a winning player, but I do think there's some cognitive dissonance at play when people consistently associate Haliburton with winning.

[Capn'O]

I thought this trade was terrible when it happened, and now it looks like one of the worst of the last 10-15 years. I can't even understand what the Kings were thinking, Haliburton is already a better player than Fox and Sabonis.

He is not better than Fox but he is a very good player and I hated the trade but not as bad as you describe it.

It was precisely that bad. Particularly because even if you were trading Halliburton the team needed defense.

[BrianInPhilly]

It’s amazing how so many fans are incapable of accounting for role, minutes, and usage when judging players. I said when the trade happened Haliburton was a better player than Sabonis even then. Now it’s obvious. Sabonis is skilled but as a non-defending big he is practically impossible to build around unless he’s your 4th or 5th best player.

And Haliburton is clearly better than Fox. Fox could average 40 a game and Haliburton would still be better. Things like controlling tempo, pace, intangibles, basketball IQ, involving teammates, even body language, Haliburton is clearly better at than Fox. Then scoring, shooting, play making side it’s not a competition. Of course this is assuming Fox didn’t suddenly turn into Steph Curry his 6th year in the league and his shooting comes down to earth. Win/loss record shows very little if a guy is a “winning player” especially as a young guy. Haliburton clearly has the IQ/intangibles to win though - similar to how Booker and Trae Young had it when they were losing.

It’s amazing to see someone speak on a subject they don’t know about

Please elaborate what in my post you disagree with or made you make that statement. Thank you. *expecting crickets*

[BrianInPhilly]

It’s amazing how so many fans are incapable of accounting for role, minutes, and usage when judging players. I said when the trade happened Haliburton was a better player than Sabonis even then. Now it’s obvious. Sabonis is skilled but as a non-defending big he is practically impossible to build around unless he’s your 4th or 5th best player.

And Haliburton is clearly better than Fox. Fox could average 40 a game and Haliburton would still be better. Things like controlling tempo, pace, intangibles, basketball IQ, involving teammates, even body language, Haliburton is clearly better at than Fox. Then scoring, shooting, play making side it’s not a competition. Of course this is assuming Fox didn’t suddenly turn into Steph Curry his 6th year in the league and his shooting comes down to earth. Win/loss record shows very little if a guy is a “winning player” especially as a young guy. Haliburton clearly has the IQ/intangibles to win though - similar to how Booker and Trae Young had it when they were losing.

You'd have a pretty damn good team if Sabonis is your 4th or 5th best player.

Yes that’s the point. You can only build a pretty damn good team if Sabonis is your 4th/5th best player in my opinion.

[Hoop Hunter]

It’s amazing how so many fans are incapable of accounting for role, minutes, and usage when judging players. I said when the trade happened Haliburton was a better player than Sabonis even then. Now it’s obvious. Sabonis is skilled but as a non-defending big he is practically impossible to build around unless he’s your 4th or 5th best player.

And Haliburton is clearly better than Fox. Fox could average 40 a game and Haliburton would still be better. Things like controlling tempo, pace, intangibles, basketball IQ, involving teammates, even body language, Haliburton is clearly better at than Fox. Then scoring, shooting, play making side it’s not a competition. Of course this is assuming Fox didn’t suddenly turn into Steph Curry his 6th year in the league and his shooting comes down to earth. Win/loss record shows very little if a guy is a “winning player” especially as a young guy. Haliburton clearly has the IQ/intangibles to win though - similar to how Booker and Trae Young had it when they were losing.

You'd have a pretty damn good team if Sabonis is your 4th or 5th best player.

Yes that’s the point. You can only build a pretty damn good team if Sabonis is your 4th/5th best player in my opinion.

That was the problem in Indy. Everyone loved Sabonis, Good numbers, smart player, plays hard. He could not hit a outside shot though, big problem in today's game. He was a very poor defender, even though a good rebounder.
If he was your 1st or 2nd best player he did not help anything going forward.

I feel Hali could be a 2nd best player; not sure 1st, but maybe; on a contender. He's been that good here.

Loved Sabonis, but after 20 something games last season and 6 games this season I wouldn't trade Hali for 2 Sabonis's.

Also making the trade even better, Buddy was the 3rd best player in the trade. The way he has played since coming to Indy, he's bordering on being the 2nd best player in the trade, He's also been that good.

Yes Indy has mostly sucked since the trade, but we were actively tanking. We lost something like12 games to end the season. The young talent we have is undeniable though. Most our main guys are under 22, 23. Most all were not on the team halfway through last season.