Tyrese Haliburton, who was traded by the Sacramento Kings to the Indiana Pacers in the middle of the 2021-22 season, said the move will motivate him to word harder and perform better.

"I think for the rest of my career, that [trade] is in my head, right? I think the great ones take little things, negative things and run with them," Haliburton said in an interview with Alex Kennedy of Basketball News. "It's funny – when I do things well, people are always like, 'Look at what the Kings did!' I love that stuff. That's what I love. My whole life, I just love proving people wrong… Everything I do, I just want it to be like, '[Look at what the Kings did]!'"

Having played two seasons in the NBA, Haliburton averaged 14.3 points, 6.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.1 triples at 41.2 percent of 3-point rate. His stats improved on every front from points (14.5 to 17.3), assists (7.4 to 9.6) and field goal rate (45.7 to 50.2 percent) since he joined the Pacers.

"I want to be a 20-and-10 guy and I want to be an All-Star," Haliburton told Kennedy. "Those are two personal goals for me that, I think, are attainable. I definitely think [I can accomplish that], for sure. I think I had that ability last year, and there was a span where I was doing that, so I think that naturally, I just have that ability. But now it's just making that shift mentality-wise. I truthfully think 8, 9, 10 assists, that just happens for me playing basketball. I feel like I'm just a facilitator by nature, like, that just happens."

Haliburton delivered a total of 628 assists, the fourth-most of the league, but with only 199 turnovers, in 77 games last season. As a 1.96-meter-tall point guard, he called a lot of screens from teammates when he was running offense. Unlike LaMelo Ball who joined the NBA in 2020 as well, and has bolder and more creative passing, Haliburton orchestrated with more calculations, and prefers safety in passing.

When Haliburton couldn't find a teammate to pass to, he could shoot floaters from further distances than most players in the league as the last resort. Of course, he still needs to put on some muscle on his 83-kilogram frame to be able to be more aggressive on court.

"I think for me, it's just getting more field-goal attempts, getting to the free-throw line more - I think I had like 30 games last year with no free throws, so I'm paying attention to that – and just figuring out different nuances and different ways to score the basketball. That's just gonna allow me to elevate my game to a new level," Haliburton said.

The Pacers think highly of Haliburton as they traded All-Star big man Domantas Sabonis for him. The team's general manager Chad Buchanan also took an interview with Kennedy, praising Haliburton with the potential to become "the next Reggie Miller."

"We're gonna build our team around him," Buchanan said. "We see him as hopefully being the next Reggie Miller. We had a Reggie Miller mural painted on a building in downtown Indianapolis, and I think our dream is that one day Tyrese will have [his own] up somewhere in downtown Indianapolis."

If history is any indication, the Pacers have a history of cultivating players who were drafted with picks between 10th and 20th into stars: Paul George (10th), Danny Granger (17th), Sabonis (11th), Myles Turner (11th), Miller (11th).

Haliburton was the 12th drafted in 2020.