Indianapolis – For new Pacers Guard Tyrese Haliburton the last 10 days have been a whirlwind. From being blindsided by a trade sitting in his apartment in Sacramento to on a plane to Indianapolis in less than 24 hours, Haliburton didn’t even have enough time to pack a suitcase full of his own clothes. Instead, he’s relied on Pacers team issued gear to get by until he can get back to Sacramento and pack things up for his new life as part of the Pacers franchise.
While he’s excited to be a part of the Pacers moving forward, Tyrese wanted to emphasis that it’s been difficult for him and for a lot of other athletes to just pick up and move their entire lives in the blink of an eye:
“That’s the hardest part that people don’t understand, the human element of all this stuff. My mom, my brothers, and my girl all moved to Sacramento as well. It’s that human element that isn’t talked about as much.”
After being lightly recruited coming out of High School in 2018, Haliburton ended up at Iowa State. However, it was his very first scholarship offer that surprised even JMV:
“Actually my first scholarship offer was IUPUI so it’s crazy how it comes full circle. Back in 2016 I was a sophomore in high school at the time.”
The Pacers are currently in a transition period from the core of Sabonis, Brogdon, Turner, and LeVert to Haliburton, Duarte, Turner, Brogdon, and the eventual 2022 1st round draft pick. Tyrese told JMV that he likes the current make up of the team moving forward and is excited to grow in the Pacers franchise:
“I think we have a lot of youth, a lot of guys that feel like they have something to prove in this league. You have guys like Myles, Malcolm, TJ too that have been productive players in this league. I think it’s a good mixture and more likely than not we’ll have a decent pick in this years draft to bring in a young guy that’s ready to go too. I’m looking forward to our roster now and what it looks like in 6 months and just looking forward to keep growing here in Indiana.”
For the first time in a few years, Pacers fans are excited to grow with a young potential future star mixed with hopefully a top 5 pick in the 2022 Draft to push this current team into the next generation of Pacers basketball. If you missed any of JMV’s conversation with Tyrese, listen to the full interview below!
