Tyrese Haliburton was one of the most touted point guards in the draft class of 2020.
After two stunning years at Iowa State, Tyrese Haliburton announced he would enter into the NBA Draft, with several teams showing interest in him.
Bob Myers revealed the Golden State Warriors were impressed with Haliburton’s pre-draft workout and loved the conversation they had with him.
He eventually was drafted as the 12th pick by the Sacramento Kings in 2020, but after his rookie season, the team traded him to the Indiana Pacers in a deal that saw them get Domantas Sabonis.
His stint in Indiana has been a huge success, as he has been a pivotal part of their journey to the NBA Finals.
However, Bill Simmons has revealed the two-time All-Star could have ended up with the Boston Celtics.
Celtics had the 14th pick in the draft and were looking to trade up because of how impressed they were with Haliburton.
But Simmons revealed that former President Danny Ainge held a phone call and misunderstood their message of Haliburton not being available at pick number 14.
“They’re picking 14, and they wanted to trade up for Haliburton, Boston and Dallas were two teams trying to trade up for him,” said Simmons when talking about teams interested in the Pacers guard.
He added: “At some point, Danny [Ainge] was on the phone with somebody and misunderstood what they said. The guy said he’s not going to be there at 14, but Danny thought he said he’s going to be there at 14.
“So they didn’t do the trade up, because he’s like, he’s going to be there at 14….then he got taken.”
“They didn’t trade up because he misheard the information. And who did the Boston Celtics stay with the 14th pick? Aaron Nesmith. The Phoenix pick seemed pretty available [at] number 10.”
Back in 2020, the Boston Celtics already had a stacked roster led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
They were consistently making deep playoff runs and it seemed likely they had the capability of winning a championship in the coming years.
Adding a point guard like Haliburton would have completely changed the dynamics of the Celtics, as he was the kind of player they lacked in 2020.
Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart were the guard options for the team, but they did not prove to be massively helpful to the Celtics when it came to playing as point guards.
Haliburton would take the ball carrying responsibility off the two stars and set the offense for the Celtics.
His ability to also take control during clutch periods has been there for everyone to see during these playoffs.
The Pacers are 20-1 when Haliburton scores 20+ points and makes 10+ assists, showcasing how impactful he is for them.
While there are reservations on his defensive ability currently, the Celtics would have certainly inculcated good habits in him if they drafted him.
