Philadelphia 76ers: Tyrese Haliburton vindicated the trade nerds

Are the Philadelphia 76ers going to trade Ben Simmons before the 2022 NBA trade deadline? No, probably not; the team appears dead set on pursuing James Harden this offseason, and having Simmons on the books could be very helpful in that pursuit.

Now granted, could the team trade Simmons during the regular season and still pursue Harden? Yes, as I’ve written what feels like a dozen times, as long as the Sixers can get off of Tobias Harris‘ contract and bring back a package headlined by a young player and either expiring contracts or easily moveable ones, they can theoretically free up enough money to sign Harden outright in free agency, which, in turn, gives them a bunch of leverage in sign-and-trade talks (read more about that here).

For that to happen, the Sixers would have to have a pretty good sense that Harden wants to make the City of Brotherly Love the next stop in his NBA career. They would also need to bypass prime players like John Collins and Bogdan Bogdanovic, who are on bigger contracts in favor of younger guys who aren’t quite on Joel Embiid‘s timeline but could grow alongside him moving forward.

Tyrese Haliburton is that player. He’s an ideal NBA sideman for a star player like Embiid and could fill in the gaps between his and Tyrese Maxey‘s individual games. If you’re a stats and/or trade nerd, you know this; everything forthcoming save some analysis and projection has been reinforced ad nauseam. But if you’re instead one of those Philadelphia 76ers fans who only catch the Sacramento Kings twice a year and only know one NBA player with the first name Tyrese, well, then you were treated to the “Tyrese Haliburton show” on an unsuspecting Saturday night on free TV.

Tyrese Haliburton proved that he’s a perfect fit with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Tyrese Haliburton and Joel Embiid both really wanted to win Saturday night’s Philadelphia 76ers-Sacramento Kings game.

After playing within the flow of their respective offenses for the majority of the game, the two players turned on the jets in the fourth quarter and duked it out mano y mano for the W. Of the 24 points scored during the final five minutes of action, 21 of them were scored by either Embiid or Haliburton and the latter just wouldn’t go away even when some of his teammates were plotting a return trip to Pat’s before heading up I-95 to face off against Obi Toppins and the New York Knicks.

Haliburton looked calm under pressure, poised with the ball in his hands, and ultimately finished out the contest with a career-high 38 points on 19 shots to go with seven assists, three rebounds, three steals, and 5-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

And yet, despite putting on a show for the ages, the 6-foot-5, soon-to-be 22-year-old, the Kings’ combo guard finished out the game with a +/- of -6, which, consequently, is also the number of games his team has lost in a row. Why? Because Haliburton alone isn’t good enough to turn a good team into a great one or elevate a bad team into an average one like, say, Damian Lillard has done in over the past three seasons in Portland.

Now that isn’t a knock against Hali; versus the Sixers, he was unquestionably the second-best player on the court, but he alone isn’t going to will the Kings into the play-in tournament in the same way that Embiid will get the Sixers into the second round based on his MVP-level play. But paired up with a player like Embiid and a speedy slasher like the NBA’s only other Tyrese, he could very well be the special sauce that elevates the combo to new heights.

That, my friends, is why folks have been banging on the table to trade for Haliburton since the emergence of Maxey all the way back in October. He averages 14.3 points, 7.3 assists, and 3.9 rebounds a night, has great size for a hybrid guard, and has knocked down 41.6 of his 3 point shots since turning in his Iowa State Cyclones cardinal and gold for Sacramento purple, black, and white. Whether running alongside Maxey in a movement-heavy starting lineup or taking on primary ball-handling duties in an Embiid-plus-shooters backcourt alongside Seth Curry, adding Haliburton into the Sixers’ oeuvre would undoubtedly make the team better, whether they ultimately land James Harden or not.

Heck, could you imagine a three-guard look with both Maxey at the one, Curry at the two, Haliburton at the three, Georges Niang (or Mike Muscala, read about that here) at the four, and Embiid in the paint? That look would will itself to a positive net rating based on offensive production alone.

On Friday, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Sacramento Kings were out on a trade for Ben Simmons, presumably because of Daryl Morey’s asking price. While the two teams could conceivably come back together and make something work, it’s clear the Philadelphia 76ers are shooting for the moon with no intention of landing in the stars unless a star player is involved. Is Tyrese Haliburton a star right now? No, but bookmark my words; one day, he’ll be pretty darn close to one. Why? Because he does all of the little things well, can play alongside anyone, and, if Saturday’s game is of any indication, he really, really wants it and will put in the work needed to get it done.