NBA Draft 2020: Biggest steals and reaches from 1st round selections
By Joe Casey
Steal: Tyrese Haliburton (Iowa State) selected #12 by the Kings
About a month ago I wrote about why Tyrese Haliburton would be the steal of the draft. His physical attributes, highlighted by his length, combined with his ability to shoot the basketball from behind the arc, finish around the rim and effectively run the pick and roll seemed to make him a perfect NBA prospect. Originally, he was projecting to be selected around the 7th or 8th pick to a guard hungry team like Detroit or New York.
On draft night, this was not the case. Detroit selected Killian Hayes with the seventh pick and the Knicks took National Player of the Year Obi Toppin with the eighth pick. As the draft continued other teams would also pass on Haliburton until four picks later when he was selected by the Sacramento Kings. Even though Haliburton was still a lottery pick he be an even bigger steal now than when I originally wrote about him in October.
The Kings are looking to hit the reset button yet again, as they currently shop Buddy Hield, Haliburton is the perfect replacement. He has shown he can play any role and make the most of it. As the “glue guy” of Iowa State, he will have no problem adjusting to the Kings culture and becoming an immediate contributor either next to DeAaron Fox or off the bench.
Being selected 12th is a major accomplishment coming in as a virtually unknown guard in a drafted highlighted by one of the biggest names in recent memory. Even still Haliburton’s physical attributes and skillset could keep many front offices up at night as he grows in the league.
Haliburton has abilities that you can’t teach any prospect and has shown that he can improve year over year if given the chance. While it is unknown what Haliburton’s ceiling could be his floor is immensely high and for once, it seems the Kings got it right on draft night.