The Sacramento Kings have signed rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton to a contract, according to General Manager Monte McNair. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled to have drafted Tyrese and excited to welcome him to the Kings family,” said McNair. “He is an incredibly talented athlete whose shooting, creative passing and ball handling skills combined with his ability to defend either guard position will be a valuable addition to our backcourt. Tyrese also has an engaging personality and is just the type of high character individual who fits the future of what we are building in Sacramento.”
The 12th overall selection in the 2020 NBA Draft garnered averages of 15.2 points (.504 FG%, .419 3pt%, .822 FT%), 5.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 36.7 minutes per game in 22 games (all starts) during his sophomore campaign at Iowa State (2019-20). Upon season’s end, Haliburton finished sixth in the Big 12 in scoring per game (15.2), second in FG percentage (50.4), first in assists (6.5), first in steals (2.5), and third in three-point field goal percentage (.419).
A native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Haliburton earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors, was named NABC All-District 8 Second Team and garnered Big 12 Player of the Week honors in back-to-back seasons (2019, 2020). He was named as a Cousy Award Finalist and to the Wooden Award Midseason Top-25 list. During the summer of 2019, Haliburton was selected to the 2019 USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Cup Team where he helped lead the squad to a Gold Medal finish and was named to the All-Star Five for the tournament.
Haliburton will wear No. 0 for the Kings.