18 Dec 20
Tyrese Haliburton Rumors
The Sacramento Kings have signed rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton to a contract, according to General Manager Monte McNair.
“We are thrilled to have drafted Tyrese and excited to welcome him to the Kings family,” said McNair. “He is an incredibly talented athlete whose shooting, creative passing and ball handling skills combined with his ability to defend either guard position will be a valuable addition to our backcourt. Tyrese also has an engaging personality and is just the type of high character individual who fits the future of what we are building in Sacramento.”
Sam Amick: The pitch that McNair made en route to landing the job, I’m told, was to build the team around 22-year-old De’Aaron Fox (who just landed his massive extension) with similarly-aged players. The 28-year-old Bogdanovic clearly wants to go, and – Oh, by the way – his presence would create a logjam for 20- year-old rookie Tyrese Haliburton (who they were thrilled to land at No. 12). Haliburton pushed his way to Sac, partly, because he thought he could fit with Fox.
Jason Jones, Kings beat writer: After drafting Tyrese Haliburton, do the Kings really want to have Bogdanovic back, even for just a season? At some point they have to move on from Vlade Divac’s version of the team, and tying up money and sacrificing Haliburton’s development might not be worth it. Bogdanovic is a solid pro, but the team will not be drastically better if he’s back. If the focus is on the future and Buddy Hield is already under contract, it might be best to let Bogdanovic play for the Hawks.
For the past four months, Tyrese Haliburton worked with the training, nutrition and performance staff at Impact Basketball on Dean Martin Drive in Las Vegas, preparing himself for this moment.
Haliburton honed his mind, body and abilities under the watchful eye of Impact Basketball founder Joe Abunassar, a former coach who has trained pro players for 25 years. The list of NBA players Abunassar has trained features Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, DeMarcus Cousins, Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry. Now it also includes Haliburton, the 6-foot-5 guard from Iowa State who was selected by the Kings with the No. 12 pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft.
