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Connor McCaffery, Clark's boyfriend, was a player development intern on the Pacers' staff, and he had played against Haliburton in college -- Haliburton at Iowa State, McCaffery at Iowa -- but their friendship grew once McCaffery joined the Pacers. "Me and Connor would talk all the time about [Clark's] journey," Haliburton said. "But I refused to cheer for Caitlin until she got out of college because I'm not cheering for Iowa." As the season went on and it was clear the Fever would have a good chance at landing Clark with the No. 1 pick, Haliburton finally relented.
The Pacers, with a longtime owner in Herb Simon who has always preferred retooling over rebuilding, went from missing the playoffs for three consecutive seasons to back-to-back Eastern Conference finals appearances and this NBA Finals run that they hope ends with the franchise’s first title. And Haliburton, the two-time All-Star out of Iowa State who was drafted 12th overall by the Kings in 2020, has been the one leading the way. “Our team was kind of at a crossroads,” Buchanan told The Athletic by phone on Friday while reflecting on the Haliburton trade. “We didn’t really have a guy, like a young player, that you could really build around. Now Domas (Sabonis) was a terrific player and a very productive player. But we felt like in today’s modern NBA, it’s hard to build around a center unless you’ve got, like, a (Denver Nuggets star Nikola) Jokić — an MVP-caliber center. So we tried to target some young guards, playmaking guards around the league that we thought maybe fit the bill. They’re very hard to acquire, obviously.
Stefan Bondy: Ke’el Ware said he worked out for the Knicks on Monday. Thibs in attendance. It was a two-player workout with Hason Ward of Iowa State.
The World Cup didn’t end like anyone associated with Team USA had hoped. Are you over it yet? Tyrese Haliburton: Still not over it. It’s frustrating. Everybody was mad, of course, but it’s like, for me, I haven’t won since like my sophomore year in college (at Iowa State). So it’s just like really opened my eyes to some real stuff in my life, honestly. It was like, “I got to change my habits and certain things to be tired of losing.” I’m not a loser, it’s not what I do. And I’m not going to let that continue to be what I am. So everybody keeps asking, “What are your individual goals this year?” I just want to win, like, I’m tired of losing. Been frustrating the last couple of years, but I think that USA stuff kind of really opened my eyes. I can’t continue to do this in my life.
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Willoughby played professionally for a number of years, making his NBA debut in 1999-2000 with the Chicago Bulls, reuniting with Tim Floyd, who left Iowa State after the 1997-98 season to coach the Bulls. He averaged 7.6 points in his lone season in the NBA.
Adam Zagoria: Iowa State big Osun Osunniyi is headed to Summer League with the Washington Wizards, per league source
Adam Zagoria: Iowa State big man Osun Osunniyi has a workout with the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday and is coming off the Bulls, Spurs, Celtics and Hornets, per league source @CycloneMBB
Alex Kennedy: Iowa State senior George Conditt has committed to play NBA Summer League with the Minnesota Timberwolves, per a league source. The 21-year-old center has started for the Puerto Rican national team.
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LeBron James: We're lucky to have THT
Talen Horton-Tucker is turning into an important piece of the puzzle for the Los Angeles Lakers. The 20-year-old sophomore who was the 46th overall draft pick in 2019 is showing he was a hidden gem. According to LeBron James, the Lakers are very lucky to have been able to draft Horton-Tucker so late in the draft. The four-time NBA champion sees a bright feature for his young teammate. “We talked about this the whole year. Let’s be honest, if you go back in the draft and redo the draft from last year, Talen Horton-Tucker would not go in the second round,” James said after Horton-Tucker scored 16 points for the Lakers in a win over the Timberwolves. “We’re super duper lucky and blessed to be able to grab him when we were able to grab him out of Iowa State.
Haliburton honed his mind, body and abilities under the watchful eye of Impact Basketball founder Joe Abunassar, a former coach who has trained pro players for 25 years. The list of NBA players Abunassar has trained features Kevin Garnett, Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, DeMarcus Cousins, Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry. Now it also includes Haliburton, the 6-foot-5 guard from Iowa State who was selected by the Kings with the No. 12 pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft.
Haliburton, a native of Oshkosh who played the last two seasons at Iowa State, is quietly drawing keen interest from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors, who currently have the first and second picks, respectively, in the Nov. 18 draft. According to sources, Haliburton has already talked and met with Minnesota officials on multiple occasions. Next week, he is expected to meet with a contingent of Warriors officials.
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