Tyrese Haliburton Recalls Rumors of Sixers’ Trade Interest

Before the Philadelphia 76ers had James Harden bringing up the ball for them, the team employed the three-time All-Star Ben Simmons. During Simmons’ final season with the Sixers, the former first-overall pick refused to take the court and desired a trade.

Heading into the 2021-2022 NBA season, many expected Simmons to be traded before the regular season started. Philadelphia’s President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey made it clear that a trade won’t go down for the sake of getting one done, and the front office frontman wasn’t bluffing.

The Simmons drama played out for multiple months into the season. The Sixers were linked to several notable candidates they could acquire before ultimately landing James Harden from the Brooklyn Nets.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard was the first prospect the Sixers were rumored to be targeting. As Lillard refused to ask for a way out, the Blazers didn’t have any intention of moving on from the All-Star guard.

Eventually, the focus was shifted toward the Sacramento Kings. As the playoff drought for the Kings continued, it seemed Sacramento would shake things up by getting rid of one of their two young budding stars in De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton.

The Sixers were rumored to have low interest in Fox at the time, but Haliburton was a popular player involved in Simmons-related rumors. Tuned into the rumors himself, Haliburton was under the belief that the Kings and the Sixers had trade discussions surrounding him and Simmons.

So, when Haliburton received a call from his agent, who revealed a change of scenery could be coming for him, Haliburton made a call to former Sixers forward Georges Niang, as he thought it might be the 76ers.

The former Kings guard recalled the moment with Los Angeles Clippers guard Paul George on ‘Podcast P.’

“Around the deadline, there was like a rumor that the Sixers had turned down a deal for me that the Kings would’ve got Ben (Simmons), and I would’ve went to Philly. I never thought anything of it, I still didn’t think it was real.. Like, no way. Even that day, my agent was messing with me a little bit about it but we would just kind of laugh about it. He called me that morning and was like, ‘I think you’re about to get traded.’ I’m like, ‘Fam, we’re playing Minnesota tonight. Like, stop playing. I’m eating breakfast right now, bro. Get off my phone.’ I called Georges Niang because he’s with Philly. I was like, ‘Yo fam, am I coming to Philly? It might crack over there if I actually get traded.’ He was like, ‘Nah, I ain’t heard nothing.’ Alright, if Georges heard nothing, because they would’ve asked him because Iowa State. I’m like, who could it be? In my head, I had no clue. Not even the slightest idea of who it could be.”

Although Haliburton was a popular name in the Simmons saga, the Sixers weren’t known to be close to making any deals with the Kings. As the trade deadline approached, the Sixers were rumored to be zeroing in on James Harden, who was growing disgruntled with the Nets.

From the start of Simmons’ trade request, the Sixers were clearly searching for a player that had already reached All-Star status in the NBA. At the time, Haliburton was a sophomore guard who seemed to have a high ceiling but didn’t have a lot of experience behind him.

Haliburton moved during his second NBA season, but it wasn’t to Philadelphia. Instead, the rebuilding Indiana Pacers made a trade with the Kings, which turned out to be a win-win swap. Sacramento thrived with Domantas Sabonis this past season as they made a run to the playoffs.

As for the Pacers, they started centering their team around Haliburton, who took another notable step forward. In 26 games during the 2021-2022 season, Haliburton knocked down 50 percent of his shots and 42 percent of his threes while averaging 18 points and ten assists.

Last year, Haliburton started in a career-high 56 games, hitting on 49 percent of his shots and 40 percent of his threes while producing 21 points per game and dishing out ten assists per game. Haliburton turned out to be an All-Star caliber prospect, making his first appearance in the big showcase last season.

While there was a point when Haliburton thought the Sixers might be the ones to get him out of Sacramento, he quickly realized that they had their sights set on the ten-time All-Star out in Brooklyn. In the end, Haliburton ended up in a good situation personally, as he’s continued to grow into a star player out in Indiana.