As Knicks fans would be the first to admit, a considerably intense aspect of being a Knicks fan is finding yourself muttering to everyone, upset from seeing a player that the Knicks could have had become a superstar. Sometimes, that’s a player that should have been a Knick on Draft Day, but didn’t, because of management’s own telegraphed mistakes. This has happened with the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, when Kevin Knox tricked the Knicks coaching staff into drafting him after a surprisingly successful three on three workout; it happened with Donovan Mitchell back in 2017, when the Knicks took a Frenchman named Frank Ntilikina. Now, it is happening with Tyrese Haliburton, the budding Indiana Pacers star, who is taking a name that once referred to a company that employed one of history’s evilest men, to a last name that Indiana farm boys might name their sons after.
By now you know that the Knicks drafted Obi Toppin instead of Haliburton, who went a few spots lower, in the 2020 NBA Draft; and although Toppin gave the Garden faithful some moments, during the 2020-2021 season, it became clear as a new pair of spectacles that not picking Haliburton would cause the kind of heartburn Knicks fans are accustomed to. Knicks management seems to always miss out on what the game changing talents are, partly because they tend to be rigid with their worldviews. Going into the draft, the Knicks wanted to get Toppin because of his New York background, despite the negatives about his glass hips and poor lateral quickness being glaring. With his older age for a prospect — Toppin was 22 when drafted — he had a soulfulness that the Knicks in the Tom Thibodeau regime craved. For as long as he has been a head coach, Thibs has wanted to play veterans instead of rookies because of their propensity for knowledge. Toppin was supposed to be the rookie who could understand rotations easily; the one kid that didn’t need years to mature.
Such dynamics originally made sense, but turned out to be inaccurate. Toppin struggled mightily defensively, feuded with Thibodeau over playing time, and in a twist that a Yorgos Lanthimos movie wouldn’t even muster, was traded to the Pacers for two second round picks. (He’s currently struggling on defense for Rick Carlisle right now. They are mistakes made by Leon Rose and the rest of the Knicks management, but trading Toppin was not one of them).
At this point in the 2023-2024 NBA season, Tyrese Haliburton has been a franchise changing talent. Knicks guard Jalen Brunson is nice, and had a mural made of him outside a mediterranean restaurant in Queens, but Haliburton, six foot five, unassuming but versatile, is the kind of player that can change the hopes of a middling franchise. Watching him in the in-season tournament was like watching a mixtape rapper blossom into a star because of his stylistic mixtape work. Haliburton might not own the secrets of any John Wooden basketball angles, but his stepback is as slow and effective as an old man doing the tango. For reasons that only geometry can understand, Haliburton creates space adeptly and finishes all layups off the glass. Sometimes his game can remind you of a skinnier James Harden, John Wall, and Paul Pierce all at once. This is not even discussing his jumpshot, which defies conventional wisdom. His eccentric game extends to his even weirder jumper — a charmer to watch. It never reaches his higher point, and almost looks like a volleyball serve instead of something that Steve Nash did. Haliburton’s 26/12 might be shocking, but when you watch Haliburton play, it makes all the sense. There’s not a possession the Pacers have without him as the focal point of. As Mike D’Antoni said about James Harden, “he’s a points guard, because he’s gonna get us some points.” Haliburton functions as that for the Pacers.
The Pacers, who have been an undoubtedly good organization that understands scouting and drafting, have long hoped for a player as dynamic as Haliburton. Despite my dislike for the Indiana Pacers, as it has been delegated to me by my Knicks fandom, the midwest team routinely builds their roster from their rebuilding stages with a casual excellency. It’s easy to forget, because they never won and because Reggie Miller’s antics often overshadowed everything else, how deep those Miller teams in the 1990’s were. Miller was a dynamic shooter at a time where those shooters were only considered specialists, Rik Smiths was a offensive talent at center, Jalen Rose was a two-way player in the realm of a better RJ Barrett, and Dale and Antonio Davis were effective brusiers. Paul George’s teams were built by Larry Bird, and featured positive players at every position, including New York’s Lance Stephenson. Although those eras was memorable, the Pacers haven’t quite had a star who could exceptionally distribute and score like Haliburton can.
This is a new plane for the Pacers. In the same way that the Nuggets entered a new stratosphere once Nikola Jokic decided to be a bionic Larry Bird, the Pacers have a player that finally allows them to compete with the elite class of teams. With Haliburton, the franchises with unlimited money and resources can’t punk them; their star exists. However, after a loss against the Miami Heat, Haliburton said that “he was tired of losing.” He joked about it online, causing Pacers fans to take a huge breather. Still, for the Pacers, the end of the Haliburton era will come quicker than they think if they don’t instantly supply him with more dynamic talent around him. Superstars want rings if they’re going to stay in cities like Indianapolis.