Kings sign first-round pick Haliburton, add free agents
Kings general manager Monte McNair announced Friday that 20-year-old rookie Tyrese Haliburton had officially signed with the team about a week after Sacramento selected him in the first round of the NBA Draft.
The Kings felt fortunate to land the former Iowa State star at No. 12 in the Nov. 19 draft. McNair released a statement when the signing was announced, praising Haliburton’s abilities and welcoming him to the organization.
“We are thrilled to have drafted Tyrese and excited to welcome him to the Kings family,” McNair said. “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.”
Haliburton, a 6-foot-5 guard, averaged 15.2 points, 6.5 assists, 5.9 rebounds and 2.5 steals as a sophomore at Iowa State last season. He led the Big 12 Conference in assists and steals. He was second in field-goal percentage (.504) and third in 3-point shooting (.419).
Haliburton signed a rookie-scale contract for $17.8 million over four years. He will earn $3.8 million in the first year. Rookie contracts are guaranteed for the first two years with team options on the third and fourth years.
NBA releases preseason schedule; Sacramento Kings will play four games
The NBA released preseason schedules for all 30 teams Friday with 49 games scheduled to be played from Dec. 11-19.
The Kings will play four games against two Pacific Division foes. Every team is scheduled to play a minimum of two games and a maximum of four games with each team scheduled to play at least one home game and one road game.
Rookie first-round draft pick Tyrese Haliburton will make his preseason debut with
De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III when the Kings open up on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers on Dec. 11. Sacramento will remain in Portland to play the Blazers again Dec. 13 at Moda Center. Fans will get their first glimpses of former Kings center Harry Giles III in a Blazers uniform.
The Kings will then come home to close out their preseason schedule with two home games against the Golden State Warriors. The Kings and Warriors will play Dec. 15 and Dec. 17 at Golden 1 Center, which has not hosted an NBA game since the 2019-20 season was suspended March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Golden State recently lost Klay Thompson to a torn Achilles, but the Warriors still have former MVP Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kelly Oubre Jr., rookie No. 2 overall draft pick James Wiseman and former Kings guard Kent Bazemore.