Tyrese Haliburton - 2020 NBA Draft Prospect

[Sugus]

I was just about to post the same. Haliburton looked so good. Richaun Holmes was surprisingly good too, going against Jokic and posting a very efficient 20 pts (10 for 13), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Jokic had a quadruple double, but unfortunately one of those was his 10 turnovers. Holmes was quietly one of Sacramento's best players last year, and despite most of the media coverage going to Fox, Hield, and Bagley, it was Holmes and Bjelica who led the team in Win Shares... and they're both free agents after this season.

Yeah, I was very surprised to see the eternally bad Kings finally putting together a competent roster, and giving the Nuggets so much trouble. At the end of the 4th, it really looked like Denver couldn't penetrate into the paint at all and get their shots off comfortably, whilst the Kings were having no issue scoring through the Nugs' defense. I'd love to take Bjelica off their team, tbh, didn't know he was a FA. And Haliburton as well.... I'll be eternally rooting for the kid, knowing we could've taken him. That 30ft three at the end is pure swagger, the star kind.

[Sugus]

Didn’t watch the game but he only had 13 points. Looks like a role player having a good game to me. Steph Curry good? Steph good? I’ll be sure to catch the Kings next game. Hope your right tho. I love seeing the birth of the next superstars. Love the NBA.

Definitely not your regular "roleplayer having a good game". Watch his highlights at least. Dude was making insane reads, getting trapped and passing out of doubles, and launching contested threes at will. Incredible confidence, vision, and court awareness, especially for a rookie. His passing, as Dejounte said, for sure could be (I don't think he's there quite yet) Steph level, or even a bit above it, Jokic-level. That's the kind of ceiling he has as a passer. I still don't fully trust his shot, looks really awkward, but it certainly looks like it's going in and he doesn't have any trouble getting it off against NBA-level defense. The Nuggets were outmatched yesterday and Haliburton was a big reason why.

[Chinook]

No real dog in the race, but I thought the book on Haliburton was that he'd actually come out of the gate fast if he was going to translate at all. He seemed as NBA ready as he was ever going to be. You can argue the same is true of Vassell, but I don't know that SA thought that. I do wish the Spurs could've leveraged teams' interest in Haliburton and moved down while still snagging a wing later on. A random extra first could've been really nice down the line. Haven't given up on Vassell or anything, but Walker and Johnson playing well and White re-upping means the team could afford to take the hit to grab an asset.

[Dverde]

I think the Spurs knew there was a lot of good PG prospects for the second round. I’m glad they passed on him for Vassell. That Precious kid is the one that might have been a better pick. He seems like a great young big for our fast paced offense.

[Dejounte]

I think the Spurs knew there was a lot of good PG prospects for the second round. I’m glad they passed on him for Vassell. That Precious kid is the one that might have been a better pick. He seems like a great young big for our fast paced offense.

Precious would not be a bad pick at all knowing what we know now (Keldon at PF looking like it works). *Skillful* shooting from the C position isn't critical with the way we're playing, we just need some big man who's attentive and can switch easily on smalls.

[exstatic]

Moreso Steph's passing instinct, not his shooting (yet). Very fun player to watch.

He’ll never match Stephs shooting with that janky hitch in his shot. He’ll get some unguarded long shots in the RS, but in the playoffs, when speeds up, that will get contested and sent back.

[exstatic]

No real dog in the race, but I thought the book on Haliburton was that he'd actually come out of the gate fast if he was going to translate at all. He seemed as NBA ready as he was ever going to be. You can argue the same is true of Vassell, but I don't know that SA thought that. I do wish the Spurs could've leveraged teams' interest in Haliburton and moved down while still snagging a wing later on. A random extra first could've been really nice down the line. Haven't given up on Vassell or anything, but Walker and Johnson playing well and White re-upping means the team could afford to take the hit to grab an asset.

How do you know they didn’t try? They ran over the clock, visually, but probably just got the pick in, on draft night.

[Chinook]

How do you know they didn’t try? They ran over the clock, visually, but probably just got the pick in, on draft night.

RC said teams wanted to move up but SA felt like they didn't get the value they needed to move. We don't know what was offered, but there's a decent reason to believe teams were willing to offer a first given Haliburton's acclaim and the fact that multiple teams were reported to be talking to SA. Maybe everyone was being cheap? Maybe the only teams willing to give up a first were at the end of the round? Dunno.

You don't have to sell me on the idea that SA did what they thought was best for them. They always do that. But you could've made an argument for like five players drafted after Vassell to be the guy at 11. I think there's a good chance that there was a trade offered that if taken and used correctly would've led to a better outcome. That's not shade of Devin at all. , the Spurs might've been able to move down and draft him anyway had there'd been a run on PGs set off by the Haliburton trade. Like maybe it goes Haliburton, Neismith, Maxey from 11-13 with Boston trading 26 or 30. I don't know that any team before Dallas was an obvious spot for Vassell after the Spurs.

[Seventyniner]

How do you know they didn’t try? They ran over the clock, visually, but probably just got the pick in, on draft night.

I doubt we will ever truly know. The Spurs justifiably run a tight ship.

[rjv]

i'm not going to knee-jerk react to the first 5 games of a rookie's career and, more importantly, i don't know that the PG was where the spurs were looking to go or need the most help. also, haliburton (like brandon clarke was last season) is going to have a better start out of the gate because of his higher floor.

[Sugus]

i'm not going to knee-jerk react to the first 5 games of a rookie's career and, more importantly, i don't know that the PG was where the spurs were looking to go or need the most help. also, haliburton (like brandon clarke was last season) is going to have a better start out of the gate because of his higher floor.

Tbh, since before the draft went down, I've always thought Haliburton was high floor, but also high ceiling. He might never realize his potential as a star, and his shot needs a bit of fixing, but his ceiling isn't low at all, unlike Clarke's. That elite vision, court awareness, passing, and IQ will always allow him to grow his game - he's a bit undersized is the knack on him, but the other knock (his speed on the first step) looked fine to me from what I saw pre-draft, and yesterday. We'll see in the playoffs I guess (well, considering the Kings' drought, we might have to wait for a while to see...), but I'd say his ceiling is positively above Clarke's, who'll likely always be a dependent role player.

Hurts to say, and way, way too early, I know - but I don't see Vassell being the better player than Haliburton when it's all said and done. Here's to him proving me wrong.

[rjv]

Tbh, since before the draft went down, I've always thought Haliburton was high floor, but also high ceiling. He might never realize his potential as a star, and his shot needs a bit of fixing, but his ceiling isn't low at all, unlike Clarke's. That elite vision, court awareness, passing, and IQ will always allow him to grow his game - he's a bit undersized is the knack on him, but the other knock (his speed on the first step) looked fine to me from what I saw pre-draft, and yesterday. We'll see in the playoffs I guess (well, considering the Kings' drought, we might have to wait for a while to see...), but I'd say his ceiling is positively above Clarke's, who'll likely always be a dependent role player.

Hurts to say, and way, way too early, I know - but I don't see Vassell being the better player than Haliburton when it's all said and done. Here's to him proving me wrong.

and i'd be okay with haliburton being the better player when it's all said and done if it turns out that the spurs are fine at that position or positions (PG and/or SG); in other words, if vassell turns out to be more important to the spurs even if he is the lesser player than haliburton. it's also hard to tell with SA because of how long it takes them to groom players. there's a good chance that haliburton may have not had anywhere near as many minutes on the floor as he has had with the kings, even with white out for now.

[Atl Spur]

Lol.......you guys! Give it some time......the Keldon J thing has taught you nothing I see

[paperboy77]

Definitely not your regular "roleplayer having a good game". Watch his highlights at least. Dude was making insane reads, getting trapped and passing out of doubles, and launching contested threes at will. Incredible confidence, vision, and court awareness, especially for a rookie. His passing, as Dejounte said, for sure could be (I don't think he's there quite yet) Steph level, or even a bit above it, Jokic-level. That's the kind of ceiling he has as a passer. I still don't fully trust his shot, looks really awkward, but it certainly looks like it's going in and he doesn't have any trouble getting it off against NBA-level defense. The Nuggets were outmatched yesterday and Haliburton was a big reason why.

Hope the guy does well. Wonder why he would fall that far in the draft tho. As for highlights.. everyone looks good in those.

[John B]

Lol.......you guys! Give it some time......the Keldon J thing has taught you nothing I see

Keldon/Vassell will be a beast.

[objective]

Doubt he would look as good on the Spurs.

First, there's no athletic rim runners for him to get assists with. Poeltl can't even be counted on to finish strong and is not a very good roll man. Aldridge and Gay sure aren't getting to the rim in the pick and roll either. So Holmes and Bagley etc are making Haliburton look better.

Second, he wouldn't have the ball as much. Considering the Spurs extended White means they weren't looking to trade him and get a replacement. After White you have Murray who handles the ball, and of course DeRozan. On top of that there's Gay who when he gets a rebound is always in danger of refusing to give the ball up and insists on being Point Rudy.

But good for him, he's looking better than I would have thought.

[TD 21]

Doubt he would look as good on the Spurs.

First, there's no athletic rim runners for him to get assists with. Poeltl can't even be counted on to finish strong and is not a very good roll man. Aldridge and Gay sure aren't getting to the rim in the pick and roll either. So Holmes and Bagley etc are making Haliburton look better.

Second, he wouldn't have the ball as much. Considering the Spurs extended White means they weren't looking to trade him and get a replacement. After White you have Murray who handles the ball, and of course DeRozan. On top of that there's Gay who when he gets a rebound is always in danger of refusing to give the ball up and insists on being Point Rudy.

But good for him, he's looking better than I would have thought.

True, but also the shortsighted view.

You don't draft at #11 worried about the now, especially with a team in transition that's lacking a centerpiece. The back court logjam could have been sorted out either at the draft or in due time.

It'll inevitably be framed as Haliburton v Vassell, but it was more like Haliburton and whatever they could have conceivably turned Murray into (which is unclear) v Murray and Vassell.

They're either betting the latter combination will be better, didn't like what Murray could fetch and/or were unwilling to swallow their pride and trade a player they've put a lot of time and resources into developing without seeing whether he makes a leap in the most pivotal season of his career.

[SPURSCHAMP]

dude looked legit tonight, some Kings fans already think he's their second best player, word is he warned teams he wanted to be drafted by the Kings?

[rankingtear]

Haliburton looking like Rookie of the Year material. According to Givony the Haliburton was selective with who to give his medicals and telling teams to not draft him, maybe we are one of those teams. Dallas wanted him bad and probably the team we are negotiating with before we took Devin.

[Prime BEEF]

dude looked legit tonight, some Kings fans already think he's their second best player, word is he warned teams he wanted to be drafted by the Kings?

Why would he want to go to Sacramento ? That doesn’t make any sense

[exstatic]

Why would he want to go to Sacramento ? That doesn’t make any sense

No one in his way. Immediate heavy playing time. He establishes his credentials, and then at 24-25 hits the open market.

[rankingtear]

Why would he want to go to Sacramento ? That doesn’t make any sense

He's playing a lot of minutes and closing for them so it does makes sense.

[jjspur]

Looks like this draft had some decent players in it after all !

[timvp]

playblair was right again.......... playblair was ridiculed........... playblair is the best talent scout on this site
timvp & all the other draft experts on this site dont watch college basketball they make prediconts based on youtube videos & draftexpress...............

This would make more sense if Haliburton wasn't the top player on my Big Board when it was the Spurs turn to draft, tbh.

For the record, Haliburton looks damn good. It looks like everything translated to the NBA level already and his basketball IQ is shining. Last night, he was the best player on the court in the fourth quarter.

Obviously it's way to early to say Haliburton > Vassell. The worries about Vassell's jumper seem to be overblown and his team-defense excellence seems to have translated to the NBA. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out over the years.

As of right now, if teams could redo the draft, the top two picks would be Ball and Haliburton. Edwards has shown enough scoring potential that he'd probably be number three. Vassell, who was arguably the best rookie in preseason, would probably be pushing top five along with Wiseman and Patrick Williams.

[Dejounte]

This would make more sense if Haliburton wasn't the top player on my Big Board when it was the Spurs turn to draft, tbh.

For the record, Haliburton looks damn good. It looks like everything translated to the NBA level already and his basketball IQ is shining. Last night, he was the best player on the court in the fourth quarter.

Obviously it's way to early to say Haliburton > Vassell. The worries about Vassell's jumper seem to be overblown and his team-defense excellence seems to have translated to the NBA. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out over the years.

As of right now, if teams could redo the draft, the top two picks would be Ball and Haliburton. Edwards has shown enough scoring potential that he'd probably be number three. Vassell, who was arguably the best rookie in preseason, would probably be pushing top five along with Wiseman and Patrick Williams.

Ball is garbage and is doing nothing impressive on a weak team.

Haliburton was consistently on my tier 1 group of players, along with Wiseman and Deni.

I'm not upset the Spurs didn't pick him, but I am sad that he's not a Spur because he's so damn fun to watch.