Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who just went to his second straight All-Star Game, expected to make his name with the Pistons. They called Killian Hayes' name instead.
The Pistons had the seventh overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Troy Weaver's first as the club's GM. They had a clear need at point guard, and Haliburton and Hayes were both on the board. Haliburton was convinced he was the Pistons' guy.
Of the 11 teams that passed on him before he eventually went 12th overall to the Kings, was there one that felt the most personal?
"For sure, Detroit," Haliburton said last weekend in an interview with Bleacher Report. "For sure Detroit."
Haliburton, the NBA's assists leader this season, said that "there were a lot of teams I wanted to go to," including the Warriors, who picked center James Wiseman at No. 2, the Bulls, who took forward Patrick Williams No. 4, and the Knicks, who went with forward Obi Toppin at No. 8.
"But I thought with the Pistons, I knew they needed a point guard," he said. "In that moment, I already felt like I was the best point guard in the draft."
Watching the draft from his family's home, Haliburton said ESPN kept showing the top players available. Once Anthony Edwards, Wiseman and LaMelo Ball were off the board, "I’m the No. 1 best available according to ESPN, so every pick that’s coming up is panning to the camera in my room. So every five seconds I'm popping up."
The Cavaliers and Hawks picked Nos. 5 and 6, respectively, and Haliburton said he had told those teams not to draft him "because they already had point guards" in Trae Young for Atlanta and Darius Garland for Cleveland. When the Pistons' pick rolled around next, "I’m like, you need a point guard. It’s gotta be me."
That's when Haliburton saw his agent gesturing from behind the camera that the Pistons weren't picking him.
"I was like, what is this, they’re not picking me? And then it flashed up, Killian Hayes, whatever. I’m like, 'What!?' I was frustrated. I knew that the Kings were my floor and I keep my expectations low, but still in the moment, I was angry. I was like, 'What do you mean, they need a point guard and they’re not picking me?' So that one definitely felt the most personal, no question," Haliburton said.
The Pistons released Hayes this month after four disappointing seasons. The Pacers, who acquired Haliburton two years ago in a blockbuster trade that sent Domantas Sabonis to the Kings, signed their franchise point guard to a five-year max extension last summer.
He has a knack for reminding Weaver and the Pistons of their error, hanging 26 points and 10 assists on Detroit in their first meeting this season, then 14 points and 16 assists in their second. He went for 24 and 10 in their lone meeting last season.
Haliburton is averaging 21.8 points, 11.7 assists and shooting 40 percent from three this season, making him the only player in the NBA with a line of at least 20/10/40. He's a star for Indiana, where the Pacers are climbing in the East.
In Detroit, the Pistons remain last in the NBA.