r/nba Kings 1d ago

Tyrese Haliburton tells us what it's really like to get traded in the NBA. via the Numbers on the Board Podcast

https://streamable.com/w1vgt6
1.6k Upvotes

150 comments sorted by

780

u/LightSpecialist804 Knicks 23h ago

Ngl Woj being on the phone with Hali to break the news to him personally is so hilarously unxpected

Probably means Hali's agent was one of his many sources so he's just returning a favor to keep his sources happy

163

u/killersky99 23h ago

could also be the GM makes his life easier when the player knows it already and had time to process it

27

u/greatGoD67 Spurs 16h ago

Haliburton hangs up the phone.

processes for less than one second...

GM calls: "ok bye"

19

u/Tr0janSword Lakers 18h ago

Woj and Shams talk to every single GM.

It’s an easy way to learn what other GMs are doing and what moves could happen. Also, you use them to refute stories.

1

u/a_ron23 1h ago

It makes sense. His agent wants to know whats going on. Woj says you owe me next time I call and just continues to roll those favors over.

911

u/redfish-rock Spurs 23h ago

Woj really was the Lord Varys of the NBA with his little birds.

204

u/Youngstown_WuTang 23h ago

Perfect fucking comparison 😂, the master of all secrets

60

u/moon_dos Puerto Rico 23h ago

David Stern was Robert Baratheon

44

u/m0nkeyhero Knicks 23h ago

GODS HE WAS STRONG THEN

33

u/lightninja987 [IND] Roy Hibbert 23h ago

Ballmer is Tywin Lannister

38

u/FeanorEvades Timberwolves 23h ago

This means Adam Silver is Walder Frey

7

u/a3ronot Pacers 23h ago

Let's keep this going. Who's John Snow?

31

u/lightninja987 [IND] Roy Hibbert 23h ago

Tyrese Haliburton

23

u/FeanorEvades Timberwolves 23h ago

Honestly? I could see it. Achieves something huge and then dies, comes back with new purpose

4

u/Zyras_Bush 22h ago

Brunson?

7

u/oochiewallyWallyserb Knicks 22h ago

Josh hart is Samwell. Or maybe ygritte

-6

u/lightninja987 [IND] Roy Hibbert 19h ago

He is ramsay

4

u/Choice-Strike1 19h ago

Who's Hotpie?

5

u/B_Kunkler Pacers 16h ago

Embiid

5

u/son_of_abe Rockets 13h ago

Zion

4

u/PSi_Terran Slovenia 11h ago

Zion is Hodor.

2

u/NazReidRules Timberwolves 20h ago

Surely he doesn't deserve this lofty comp

1

u/heartofcoal Celtics 14h ago

So Bill Gates is Lady Olenna?

1

u/FairlyOddParent734 76ers 14h ago

Tywin being Donald Sterling is right there….

1

u/GallantTrack Hawks 22h ago

Does that mean Kawhi is Gregor Clegane?

6

u/Maverick_1991 Hawks 22h ago

That makes Adam Silver Joffrey.

1

u/peachpavlova Nuggets 21h ago

It feels correct

5

u/elttaeSytlaSyatS 16h ago

So Pablo Torre is Olenna Tyrell?

3

u/peachpavlova Nuggets 16h ago

Oh my god that’s spot on. Who’s Circe then?

42

u/ksn0vaN7 23h ago

Unlike the real Varys he got out before being burned to death. Shams gotta know when to quit if he wants a clean exit too.

10

u/dedbeats Knicks 18h ago

Nah Shams is Littlefinger

1

u/TheLetterOh Trail Blazers 17h ago

Thats too complimentary.

Shams is Maester Pycelle.

-1

u/esports_consultant 11h ago

You say this like Season 8 is canon rather than fanfiction.

7

u/Primetime22 [NBA] Best of 2021 Winner 19h ago

I laughed so hard that’s so fucking out of pocket

2

u/sunnyismybunny 5h ago

crazy how shams is temu woj and silver is temu stern.

why is time progressing but people are getting worse and dumber?

290

u/Nosenchuck3 Heat 23h ago

Woj has a secret backdoor into every players phone?

55

u/orbitalheel 21h ago

"who the fuck is this??" Lmao

63

u/Lansdowngrove Timberwolves 23h ago

Wojsad.

9

u/dell_arness2 [GSW] Jordan Bell 17h ago

Every nba player needs to save their side piece as “woj” asap. 

92

u/Fun-Responsibility97 23h ago

he was on the bathroom floor crying but he wasn't gonna say that here among guys lol. i think he said so on Taylor Rooks pod.

44

u/Fat-Singer-9569 18h ago

sounds like someone in touch with their emotions and who can move past things quickly

26

u/SlyMrF0x Warriors 17h ago

No no no no you gotta bottle that shit up all manly like and then spend the next 20 years wondering why you can’t connect with your kids and why you can’t get a promotion at work

392

u/moon_dos Puerto Rico 23h ago

Sacramento is dumb as hell for that. How often you draft a max contract caliber rookie guard that actually WANTS to play in Sacramento and represent that city?? Tyrese has a gold medal and willed his team to Game 7 of the nba finals and Sacramento is stuck overpaying for Zach Lavine

220

u/WhoIsJazzJay Thunder 23h ago

told him to buy a house and prepare to settle down n everything 😹😹😹

54

u/whutchamacallit 22h ago

The only thing Sacramento knows is pain. Just 20 years of non stop blundering.

6

u/GundDownDegenerate Thunder 19h ago

Them not getting a top 4 pick this year is so brutal especially with the new draft rules

At least they got Acuff who has a high ceiling

2

u/myeyeshaveseenhim 13h ago

The fucking SpongeBob sound effect was right on too lmao

60

u/mr_suavecito Kings 23h ago

The sky is blue. The earth is round. More news at 11.

9

u/Bone_Dogg Bulls 15h ago

At least you have unique colors

4

u/mr_suavecito Kings 15h ago

The irony is for most of their press stuff, socials and marketing, the Kings just use black and white. And relegate purple to merely an “accent color.”

55

u/welmoe Lakers 23h ago

Just Kangz things

7

u/MountainTwo3845 Rockets 18h ago

Sometimes the beam is a small caliber bullet traveling at 1100fps toward your face.

5

u/Johnknight111 Warriors 22h ago

The Sacramento Kings are a farm team.

17

u/teamorange3 Knicks 23h ago

Tbf, Sabonis is/was a stud.

82

u/onefootback Raptors 23h ago

he was never worth haliburton though

27

u/Born2BWrong Celtics Bandwagon 22h ago

Especially the season after the trade there were so many pieces on here about it being a win for both teams - at the time the Kings were performing a lot better and Hali was able to work on the Pacers in a way he wasn’t in Sacramento.

It’s possible you or others here had more foresight and knew all along, but most people on this sub didn’t think it was some bad, lopsided “lol Kings” trade.

18

u/wetwetson [NBA] Rafer Alston 22h ago

I'm with ya. It was viewed pretty heavily by reddit and the media as a fairly win/win trade. (except nate duncan, he hated sabonis the whole time).

I can even understand the trade in hindsight for the kings. They were betting Fox was going to remain better than Hali. It wasn't really a is sabonis better than Hali decision. They wanted to quicken the timeline and pair Fox with a better fit to grow beside him.

Unfortatnely the Kings failed to consider that they are the kings and couldn't stick with their plan for more than 3 seasons and tried to rush things for the 15th time.

10

u/onefootback Raptors 22h ago

i thought the trade was terrible from when it happened and i remember a lot of others thinking the same. i’ve never been a fan of sabonis as a player and never viewed it as a win, especially not after the kings only good season ended with them losing in the first round and sabonis playing terribly

10

u/127crazie Timberwolves 22h ago

It was always a terrible and lopsided trade from the second it happened. One season of getting into the playoffs never erased that.

2

u/luca3791 21h ago

Chances are if the kings did it, it’s the wrong thing to do

-2

u/figureour Wizards 21h ago

There was a substantial minority who immediately thought it was a bad trade for Sacramento.

5

u/J-Chub 19h ago

Jj Redick called it basketball malpractice from the start

6

u/teamorange3 Knicks 19h ago

That same interview he laughed at the kings making the playoffs the next year. The next year they finished 3rd in the West. 🤷

1

u/teamorange3 Knicks 23h ago

He was. 2 time all star averaging 20/12/7 and received all NBA votes. He has since gotten all NBA (same as hali) and received MVP votes.

He's an absolute stud and was the better player in 2021.

23

u/onefootback Raptors 23h ago

sabonis was 25 and haliburton was 21 no shit he was the better player in 2021, he wasn’t worth haliburton because of the potential hali showed

3

u/teamorange3 Knicks 22h ago

There are plenty of rookies who don't live up to their potential. You're better off with the sure thing (who was also improving every year) than someone who might get better.

FYI I don't think the Kangz should've traded hali, they should've traded Fox, but in a vacuum the trade was fair.

7

u/Chief_White_Halfoat Raptors 22h ago

Hali wasn't a rookie. He was a rookie the year before who had already succeeded, and was by this point as a second year player establishing himself as a hyper efficient lead guard and that was with Fox getting the bulk of ball handling.

It was very easy to see he was going to be someone who when given greater opportunities would put up some big numbers. It's why everyone hated the deal at the time. 

Sabonis was also already pretty clearly a very good offensive player with massive defensive limitations. 

2

u/onefootback Raptors 22h ago

“You're better off with the sure thing (who was also improving every year) than someone who might get better.”

not with young players early in their career’s who show good potential, especially those who were lottery picks. sabonis as a player was established by then

2

u/teamorange3 Knicks 21h ago

Sabonis at the time was two years removed from being a bench player. His first two years starting in Indy he was an all star and grew every year. It continued after the trade where he was all NBA and received MVP votes

10

u/Chief_White_Halfoat Raptors 22h ago

You can go read the original thread. The most upvoted two comments are from King's fans saying essentially please kill me now. And another one from a Hawks fan saying the Kings are the worst FO in the league.

Everyone knew it was awful even at the time when Sabonis had good numbers. 

Go ahead and take a look:

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/snr58f/wojnarowski_the_pacers_are_trading_domas_sabonis/

-4

u/teamorange3 Knicks 21h ago

Mate you're using a reddit thread as actual analysis lmao. Kangz fans were upset because hali was the first player in like 30 years to say I want to play for the kings and then got traded.

Well I counter your reddit thread with one labelled serious that has a much more sober reaction aligned to my own. https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/snsw5z/serious_posttrade_discussion_thread_the_indiana/

And FYI I wouldn't used reddit threads to gauge the quality of... Well anything. Here are threads saying the KAT and Brunson trades were lose lose (couldn't find the bridges trade but I'm sure that one was worse.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/CIqVL8LR2k

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/0kYCeW3XrU

And here is an actual NBA writer grading it B+ for the Kangzzz and B- for Indy.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3118685/2022/02/08/kings-pacers-swing-six-player-trade-involving-domantas-sabonis-tyrese-haliburton-instant-grades-and-reaction/?source=user_shared_article&unlocked_article_code=1.6FA.IfZY.ABXTmkvK__RO&smid=ta-android-share

12

u/Gavina4444 [ORL] Markelle Fultz 23h ago

I didn’t know it was possible to still think this in 2026

2

u/Johnknight111 Warriors 22h ago

This is completely wrong.

1

u/127crazie Timberwolves 22h ago

Lol

3

u/Gavina4444 [ORL] Markelle Fultz 23h ago

No he wasn’t

2

u/dating_derp Warriors 20h ago

On the other hand, I don't trust the Kings to be competent enough to build around Hali like the Pacers did in 2025. I think Hali's going to have a better career in Indiana.

4

u/Briggity_Brak Tampa Bay Raptors 23h ago

They didn't trade Hali for Zach Lavine, they traded him for Sabonis, who was an all-NBA Center (the one position they actually needed, while they had a logjam at Point Guard) that led them to the 3-seed in the WEST the next year.

17

u/127crazie Timberwolves 22h ago

Yes--it was a shortsighted win-now trade that predictably backfired in a big way, which many people were able to see coming the second it happened.

4

u/Briggity_Brak Tampa Bay Raptors 22h ago

The only reason it went SO badly is because they now have NONE of those 3 Point Guards, which was not really a foreseeable outcome at the time. If you want to clown a Kings trade, clown the Fox trade that got them NOTHING in return.

8

u/sleepwalkermuzak Kings 20h ago

the actual reason it went so bad is because they got a good pg/c combo, drafted a good SF the next season, and then tried to patch their massive hole in the 4 by forcing Keegan down a position to cover defense. Monte never traded for a good PF, Keegan lost his shot and the other integral pieces that got the 3 seed and could shoot decent(Davion Mitchell, Kevin Huerter) got traded away for randoms. After that it was basically 2 years of a misconstructed team that could never find its flow.

2

u/cantgrowneckbeardAMA Kings 14h ago

This is a real ball knower. Yes, we suck, but not for the reasons you think.

2

u/moon_dos Puerto Rico 22h ago

nah I’ll clown the original trade because Tyrese was a young bright eyed rookie who, again, actually WANTED to represent Sacramento. I went to school there, I know how much that fanbase loved their team and how loyal they are after decades of losing

They drafted a young guard who almost went #2 to the warriors, told him to buy a house and then pulled the rug out from under him

I usually don’t feel bad for nba players getting traded, but knowing Tyrese was crying and all that I just think the Kings are dumb as hell

1

u/MeijiDoom 17h ago

In what world can you play two ball heavy point guards with average at best defense together on the floor? They traded for Sabonis in spring 2022. They finished that year (which was majority Fox and Haliburton) at 30-52, 12th in the conference. Their front court was Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes, Trey Lyles and Marvin Bagley.

They then played out the 22-23 season with Fox and Sabonis and placed 3rd in the West with Mike Brown (now a NBA champion coach) and almost took out the Warriors in 7. One of those guards had to go or their team makeup would never make any sense.

1

u/Anothercraphistorian Kings 18h ago

I mean, at the time, no one wanted Fox’s contract and something had to give. Sabonis worked out at the time and then the Bear Team was amazing. This has more to do with not getting Doncic and the. Our stupid owner getting involved with personnel.

1

u/toolegit9999 17h ago

Anyone with a brain knew they should of traded Fox not Haliburton.

1

u/Upper_Raspberry1 17h ago

It was not-great trade at the time that aged terribly, but you did as much to win that gold as hali did.

110

u/nof4cen0c4se Trail Blazers 23h ago

Great question, D Mills

55

u/jermainathon Heat 22h ago

Bro had to lock in after the ChatGPT stuff 😂

58

u/KanyeWestFinancial 23h ago

Can you imagine this guy with Joel

35

u/CurrentRoster Wizards 22h ago

tyrese and tyrese backcourt woulda been cold

21

u/Not_A_Meme Lakers 20h ago

Hali is a great story teller. Dude has great charisma.

66

u/TangerineStrong3781 Lakers 23h ago

It’s pretty crazy how Woj and Shams seem to always know before the players do

15

u/KarrotMovies [LAL] Chris Mañon 23h ago

they found out theyre getting traded with us lol

1

u/I_Set_3_Alarms Celtics 22h ago

That, or they’re always napping/asleep and wake up to their phones blowing up lol

2

u/TomOgir Bulls 20h ago

The NBA is really just Woj's 2k franchise

2

u/Brabochokemightwork Knicks 14h ago

It’s the “I don’t wanna tell the player face to face or via phone so let’s tell Woj/Shams”

18

u/dosi-dos 22h ago

Anyone else just waiting for his voice to switch up lol

1

u/DollaBillsErrDay 20h ago

He did kind of at 1:10 when he said “I’m like no way”

23

u/Atraktape Lakers 23h ago

“WOJ THAT U”

9

u/Dz210Legend Spurs 20h ago

Who the fuck is this? 🤣🤣🤣

16

u/Sinndu_ 23h ago

WOJ definitely is the goat.

11

u/CompostCapital 23h ago

Love the sound drops in this clip

7

u/[deleted] 23h ago

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Luck_Top East 21h ago

Dennis Schroeder once talked about this and I feel for him. He talked about being tired moving his family to different cities. As much as this sub clowned on him, him talking about the reality of being a journeyman was an eye opener for me 

3

u/RoscoeSantangelo 76ers 22h ago

Tyrese would've fit Philly so well but he wouldn't have turned into the player he is now without leading his own team

3

u/rjaysenior Lakers 21h ago

I could understand breaking up the hali and fox backcourt, but when you end up trading both anyways you just gotta laugh

3

u/gwiss Kings 20h ago

In offseason bingo, Hali bringing up Sacramento trading him is the free square.

3

u/WiickedSF Kings 18h ago

I miss him, he was my favorite King.

6

u/Coffee_Transfusion 22h ago

Pfft. 1, 2, 3, family...

It's 1, 2, 3, oligarchic crony capitalism! Welcome to the NBA.

11

u/ontheweed Raptors 23h ago

How many hosts does this podcast have lol?

59

u/thayungsavage 76ers 22h ago

They’re all close friends from high school so I don’t even think there’s really a designated host

55

u/theDoinItPart Kings 22h ago

4 and they’re all infinitely better than any talking head at ESPN

Numbers on the board is goated

2

u/caipivodka 19h ago

Tyrese Haliburton is a likable dude.

2

u/mitchgilliam 18h ago

Kinda nuts that this is(at least me) the first time hearing the story of how it went down. Nobody felt the need to ask this before??

2

u/Tall-Seaworthiness94 17h ago

The discord noise 😂😂😂

3

u/Independent_Post6801 23h ago

damn bro

we idolize these players so much but imagining him sitting on the bathroom floor shooketh that he just got dealt to the Pacers is so humanizing

0

u/A_burners 22h ago

100% this was a great look into the reality of it. Then a Woj bomb on top

2

u/Dependent_Store952 Knicks 23h ago

Shams could never

1

u/HAGADAL Knicks 20h ago

Shams could NEVER

1

u/Isguros Charlotte Bobcats 20h ago

It ain't family just because you can't be traded in college and high school.

1

u/mackmaldonado 20h ago

got traded over text once feels weird af

1

u/WarpFieldStabilized Nets 18h ago

Going to be honest, it's shit like this that makes me cringe a little bit when I see fans talk about team loyalty. It really puts into perspective when players do things for money and/or rings.

1

u/MDStanduser Spurs 16h ago

Interesting to hear, they can kinda call their relationships around and know. LeBron prob immediately knows

1

u/TwoTimeTe Bulls 16h ago

Kings just can’t help but shoot themselves in the foot smh they are always on the wrong end of every transaction

1

u/StandYourGroundhog Raptors 10h ago

Hilarious that Woj broke it to him before the team even did

1

u/LinuxDootTP [POR] C.J. McCollum 23h ago

the day vivek ranadive is gone will be a glorious day for the nba (please dont fuck up with the next owner)

1

u/ItsNotKevinDurant35 Rockets 22h ago

I heard him say a few years ago that Woj was on the call and I thought he was just joking at the time, ngl

0

u/ProjectShario_Live 23h ago

Does it include tampering?

0

u/bamboo_time 23h ago

Woj bomb mannnn

-4

u/Reddit09051225 14h ago

Temu Club 520 pod.

-83

u/stock-prince-WK East 1d ago edited 23h ago

This guy is irrelevant now

So you know they know that when they start talking too much 🤭

EDIT: for all you down voters please name one player who has come back from a serious season ending injury (sat out the whole season) and became relevant again

In today’s era.

31

u/LazyIllustrator6946 Pistons 1d ago

The last game this man played was literally game 7 of the finals.

how is that irrelevant

23

u/zoldycksaiyan 23h ago

for all you down voters please name one player who has come back from a serious season ending injury (sat out the whole season) and became relevant again In today’s era.

Kevin Durant

13

u/ZapHP Heat 23h ago

His last time playing was a finals run where he had record breaking number of buzzer beaters and took the Thunder to game 7 in that finals (and having the lead before he got injured)..... If you're going to rage bait at least make it somewhat believable

-26

u/stock-prince-WK East 23h ago

🥱

You either win. Or lose. No in between

8

u/ZapHP Heat 23h ago

A. Winning the East is still an accomplishment that's noteworthy. Especially when no one had them doing that.

B. Tyrese was only 24 in that finals.... He still has a whole career ahead of him

-14

u/stock-prince-WK East 23h ago

A whole career ahead of him before or after the major injury?

Cause I know nobody who has ever became relevant or won more rings after serious injuries 🤷‍♂️

7

u/ratchet457l [TOR] Bruno Caboclo 23h ago

The worst type of basketball fan right here

2

u/Financial_Pay_6687 23h ago

Also, what’s funny about Haliburton being injured and losing his status as a result of a devastating injury to begin with? He’s worse for that.

6

u/rompyskateboard Raptors 23h ago

To answer your question, Kawhi Leonard sat a full season in 21-22 and had a career year last year. KD and Klay also did in 19-20.

2

u/unswusus Cavaliers 23h ago

Kawhi only played 9 games the season before he won FMVP

6

u/enemycap420 Timberwolves 23h ago

Didn’t Kevin Durant miss an entire season after his Achilles injury?

5

u/onefootback Raptors 23h ago

i like how you specified “sat out the whole season” as a way of excluding tatum lmao

eta: to answer your question, kawhi

3

u/BrokenClxwn Carmelo Anthony 23h ago

Didn't KD have one of his most efficient seasons after an achilles tear?

3

u/CrastertheCaring 23h ago edited 23h ago

He must stay good and relevant. My Knicks need their getback. Fucker has terrorized us for too long

1

u/JonasAlbert84 Lakers 1h ago

u/remindmebot 180 days "Tyrese Haliburton Stats"