Sacramento Kings: Trading Haliburton Brings Up Questions Over The Direction Of McNair
Sacramento fans have a right to be upset about the trade of Tyrese Haliburton. He embraced the city and its fans during his first 1.5 years in the NBA. Haliburton was not exempt from being dealt away from the city of Sacramento. Fans have the right to be outraged; Haliburton was abruptly traded from the Kings with no indication of this scenario actually coming.
The Sacramento fanbase shouldn’t feel cheated over Haliburton because he embraced the city and wanted to be a King. Fans should feel cheated because it was the wrong move from a basketball perspective. This move should make you question the long-term aspirations of Kings General Manager, Monte McNair’s Kings roster.
In full transparency, Indiana likely demanded Haliburton in the blockbuster deal for Domantas Sabonis. The Kings had been long rumored to be looking to deal DeAaron Fox. This move caught fans off guard. Haliburton, who felt like the least likely to be traded, was dealt for a player that Monte McNair coveted even greater. It was not Fox who got traded. As is the case in the NBA, to get a star like Sabonis, McNair needed to do what he had to do to get the job done.
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McNair should have walked away when Haliburton’s name was brought up. When it comes down to it, McNair must see the play-in game (and short-term success) as being of more importance to the fans and executives of Sacramento than the long-term plans of the franchise. That’s obvious, right?
The Kings have the longest playoff drought in all of the pro sports. You need to make the playoffs as soon as possible to ease your fanbase and erase that stigma. However, that is not Sacramento’s goal (nor should it be where they are positioned currently in the standings). They are fighting for the play-in. I repeat the play-in game.
The Kings are not a team who will shoot up the standings to snag the 6th seed and avoid the play-in games. Best case scenario, Sacramento grabs a 10 or 9 seed and potentially makes their way into the playoffs through the play-in. If they don’t win the play-in games; how do you proceed? Does that count as a successful season? Was the all-in move to get Sabonis and pair him with Fox worth trading away Haliburton. Hali had a lot more skill as an overall basketball player. Is he a better running mate for Sabonis in the long term?
The majority of Sacramento fans will pick Fox and Sabonis as the pair to build around for the future. Fox has been that guy in Sacramento for his entire NBA career. What Kings fans need to grasp, how many playoff appearances has DeAaron gotten the Kings? Has Fox really made the Kings better? Was Fox just putting up empty stats for a team that’s going nowhere? It’s easy to see Haliburton and say he is not Fox. Look at his scoring numbers; that’s all a causal fan will see. It is not easy admitting Haliburton has shown more growth in his 1.5 years than Fox has in five seasons. You can argue Fox is more dynamic and electrifying, however, Haliburton is as well, had he been given time we’d have seen that.
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It’s a fact that selling Haliburton and Sabonis would be a harder task to sell to fans than Fox and Sabonis. After all, you are trying to convince fans this is a serious attempt at playoff immortality. Fox was at one point a fringe All-Star. While I’ll argue he’s a great talent, he’s not as good as people think. Fox is the draw that will sell tickets and make this run to the playoffs seem more legitimate. Again, he’s been the guy for more than five years.
Going back to what was said about Indiana only wanting Haliburton, that may be so. However, McNair needed to know there are other ways to win that didn’t involve moving a future All-Star for a current All-Star. Kings fans will show up of the team is winning. It shouldn’t matter if the All-Star caliber guard, who has been the captain of a sinking ship for five years, is there or not.
You don’t need to sell people on a catchy catchphrase of “The Ox and The Fox to get fans to the Golden 1 Center. A short-term push to play-in isn’t how to get fans back permanently (which is what this is) A long-term dedication to winning basketball is the path you take. That’s always been the issue with the Kings. Stick to a solid game plan and execute it. Go for a full rebuild until you get it right, or put a bandaid on it and hope the ouchie fixes itself.
If you’re a Kings fan you should be livid at McNair. You’re trying to make the play-in so bad, yet, you’re swindling fans to thinking that the 9th or 10 seed is a vast improvement (It’s not). You’re still a lottery team if you lose in the play-in. The streak of missing the playoffs is still intact. Fans have waited a long time for the Kings to be relevant. One or two years of moderate success shouldn’t be accepted when you can have more than a decade of dominance. Again, McNair and Kigns Owner, Vivek Ranadive, want to fast-track a rebuild; make fans believe it’s all about improving the roster for an elongated period of success. We’ve all seen and heard this song and dance before.
If you’re a fan that values Fox and the short-term success (if that even happens), I question you and your commitment to this team. You want to sustain a winning culture as an organization. That’s what McNair has royally messed up. He traded the team’s best overall player to sell fans on the idea of short-term success over long-term success. I’m betting Monte McNair is gone from Sacramento in two years.
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Daniel is a guru of baseball and basketball prospects. He’s a very experienced Amusement Park traveler as well. Follow him and his hot takes on Insta @dgentleman9288
