Haliburton Did Not Wanted to Be Drafted by Cleveland or Atlanta

Tyrese Haliburton was drafted 12th overall to the Sacramento Kings in the 2020 NBA Draft.

He and his agents made sure that he would land somewhere he wanted to go. Before the NBA Draft in 2020, it was reported that Haliburton and his agents were working “behind the scenes” to make sure that certain teams did not draft him.

On JJ Redick’s The Old Man & The Three podcast, Haliburton said himself that he told representatives of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta Hawks to not select him.

He hinted that their already-formed backcourts were the reason that he did not want to be taken by the two teams. Atlanta had a backcourt including Trae Young and Cleveland had their young dynamic backcourt in Collin Sexton and Darius Garland.

After being drafted by the Kings at 12th overall, Haliburton proved as a young blossoming star.

Playing in 108 games with Sacramento, the 21 year old averaged 13.6 points per game,
showing that he belonged .. until he was traded from Sacramento to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for a package headlined by star Domantas Sabonis.

Haliburton, who was blindsided by the trade, has played four games with the Pacers so far, averaging 20.8 points per game.

He will now look to further prove himself as a star in the NBA, and is looking to prove to the Kings that trading him was a mistake.