With the Golden State Warriors officially out (courtesy of the Minnesota Timberwolves), there are only six teams left standing. Unfortunately, once again, the Sacramento Kings are not one of those lucky teams.
However, a player they drafted just five years ago (Tyrese Haliburton, 12th overall pick) is still fighting, and a major media outlet made sure to remind the Kings of that sad fact.
Haliburton/Sabonis trade continues to age poorly
During the 2022 NBA Trade Deadline, the Kings and Pacers participated in a monster deal that was centered around Sacramento trading Haliburton for Domantas Sabonis.
At the end of the 2023 season, the deal looked like a win-win proposition. The Kings were back in the postseason after a 16-year drought, and the Pacers looked to have their next franchise star. Unfortunately, the teams have been going in two completely opposite directions since then.
The Kings haven't sniffed the playoffs since that magical 2022-23 season. In the last two years, they have been eliminated in the NBA Play-In Tournament. Now, they are stuck with an imbalanced roster, very few good trade assets, and no first round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. By all accounts, they are basically the Western Conference equivalent of the Chicago Bulls.
Meanwhile, after an improbable gentleman's sweep against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Pacers are on their way to their second straight Eastern Conference Finals appearance. And given the flawed nature of the New York Knicks roster and the injuries the Boston Celtics are dealing with, it looks like the Pacers have a good chance of advancing even further.
To be fair, this is not to say that Sabonis has been a bad player for the Kings. In fact, he's put up some impressive numbers since coming to Northern California. This season, Sabonis notched 61 double-doubles, making it the third straight year he's had over 60 of these types of games. According to Elias Sports Bureau, Sabonis is only the sixth player since the ABA-NBA merger to pull this off.
But even with these great counting stats, Sabonis is not the offensive force that Haliburton is. And since he is a center, it is much harder to build around his defensive shortcomings than it is with Haliburton (who, at point guard, plays a far less important position on defense).
Yes, hindsight is 20/20, but that doesn't change the fact that this trade was a clear loss for the Kings.