ATLANTA — Star center Domantas Sabonis, swingman Justin Holiday and reserve guard Jeremy Lamb made the trip to Atlanta for the Pacers’ road game Tuesday against the Hawks, but they did not suit up for Indiana.
Roughly two hours after the Pacers wrapped up their shootaround at State Farm Arena, which included those three players, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Sabonis, Holiday, Lamb and a 2023 second-round pick had been traded to Sacramento in exchange for second-year guard Tyrese Haliburton, 3-point specialist Buddy Hield and veteran big man Tristan Thompson.
The trade was finalized shortly after Atlanta steamrolled shorthanded Indiana 133-112 on Tuesday night.
“We feel that Tyrese Haliburton is an elite young point guard that affects the game positively in many, many ways,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Buddy Hield is an elite shooter, has been for the last several years. And Tristan Thompson is a proven veteran center, who was a starter on a championship team in 2016. We’re getting three good players that are very good now, and in the case of Tyrese as a 21-year-old … he has a chance to continue to grow.”
Haliburton is averaging 14.3 points, 7.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 45.7% overall and 41.7% on 3-pointers this season. Hield is shooting 36.8% from behind the arc and has nailed 182 3s this season, trailing only All-Star guards Stephen Curry and Fred Van Vleet. Thompson, on an expiring contract, is averaging 6.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game but hasn’t played since Jan. 9. He helped the LeBron James-led Cavaliers come back from a 3-1 deficit against the Warriors and win the 2016 NBA Finals.
Haliburton, Hield and Thompson could make their Pacers debut Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse against the Cavaliers, who Indiana traded Caris LeVert to Sunday.
Sabonis was a two-time All-Star with the Pacers and was having his third straight All-Star caliber season before being dealt. The 6-11 center is averaging 18.9 points, 12.1 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He’s registered five triple-doubles this season, including the first 25-rebound triple-double since Shaquille O’Neal in 1993, and 34 double-doubles.
On Monday, Sabonis said his approach to the trade deadline was to ignore it. Less than 24 hours later, he was dealt to the Kings.
“I called Domas first,” Carlisle said. “He picked up. He did not know about it, so I was the person that broke the news to him and I just thanked him really for an amazing two months from my perspective, but several great years from the Pacers’ perspective. I was able to get Jeremy and Justin as well and had very similar sentiments for all three. Just a great level of appreciation for their play and professional approach.”
The NBA trade deadline ends Thursday at 3 p.m. ET, and Holiday jumped the gun after LeVert was sent to the Cavaliers. Following a 98-85 loss to Cleveland on Sunday, in which LeVert was held out as the trade between the two teams was finalized, Holiday said he looked forward to facing LeVert and trying to “beat him” when the Pacers host the Cavs in a rematch Friday. Now, unless the Kings and Cavaliers reache the NBA finals, Holiday won’t matchup against LeVert until next season.
Holiday is averaging 11.0 points per game while shooting 37.8% from behind the arc this season, and Lamb, on an expiring contract, is averaging 7.1 points per game.
“The thing is nobody really cares about how you feel in this situation or in any situation,” Holiday said after LeVert was traded. “All anybody really cares about is you going out to perform, so you have to try to find a way to lock in. It’s our job to go out there and do our job.”
Indiana has now made two significant trades this week, signifying that owner Herb Simon is ready to commit to a full rebuild after initially dismissing the idea in mid-December.
The Pacers traded LeVert and a 2022 second-round pick via Miami to the Cavs on Sunday. In return, Indiana received guard Ricky Rubio, who is out for the season with a torn left ACL and on an expiring contract, a lottery-protected 2022 first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick via Houston and a 2027 second-round pick via Utah.
“It’s the old saying, ‘You’ve gotta give up good players to get good players,'” Carlisle said. ” … There’s always mixed feelings when good players and good people leave.”
Follow IndyStar Pacers beat writer James Boyd on Twitter: @RomeovilleKid. Reach him via email: [email protected].
