HE COULD BE THERE
Iowa State’s Haliburton could be right guy at right spot for Knicks
Tyrese Haliburton’s mom wanted to know if she should book the flight. Bruce Weber, the coach of USA’s U-19 national squad, felt good about Haliburton’s roster spot, and he relayed that message when the player’s mother, Brenda, expressed her desire to fly to Greece for the FIBA World Cup. But Weber couldn’t guarantee it. After all, the cuts weren’t totally his decision because of USA Basketball’s involvement. And Haliburton was a role player at Iowa State averaging 6.8 points as a freshman.
“When I got him, I thought he would make the team but I didn’t think he’d be a dominant guy and a lottery pick just a year later,” Weber told the Daily News.
Haliburton’s ascension really began with that 2019 World Cup. He led the World Cup in assists, shot 69% — including a ridiculous 55.6% from beyond the arc — and was named to the All-Tournament team. In the same year USA’s senior squad under Gregg Popovich bombed in the World Cup, Weber’s U-19 won its title while beating opponents by an average of 29 points.
Brenda, in other words, was rewarded for booking her flight. Haliburton, who was only a 3-star recruit out of high school, could’ve won World Cup MVP, according to Weber, as one of Team USA’s best players, along with MVP winner Reggie Perry and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. Haliburton also served as the locker-room leader for a roster that required mentorship, with roughly half the players fresh out of high school.
“The younger guys may have had more talent, but they didn’t understand the game and didn’t understand preparation and scouting reports and all that. Those guys just didn’t want to prepare,” Weber said. “And Tyrese would keep coming up to myself and the other coaches and say, ‘I’ll talk to them.’”
The 20-year-old then continued his rise at Iowa State as a sophomore and is now projected as a top-10 NBA pick, right around where the Knicks are slotted to draft at No.8.
“All of a sudden Tyrese, from freshman year to sophomore year, he was a guy who went from getting 8 points and five assists having games where he was scoring 29 points and having 10 double-doubles and stuff like that,” said Weber, who also coached against Haliburton at his full-time job at Kansas State. “I think (the World Cup) really helped him confidence-wise.”
The Knicks have multiple avenues toward achieving their goal of acquiring a point guard, with the trade season, free agency and draft all unfolding in the next two months. They have the assets to land Chris Paul, the cap space to sign Fred VanVleet or the pick to land a prospect. It’s the most intriguing question of their offseason, with former lottery-pick point guards Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr. already on the roster. LaMelo Ball is the top-rated point guard of the 2020 class, but Frenchman Killian Hayes, Alabama’s Kira Lewis and Haliburton are also options in the lottery. Lewis’ speed should translate well in the NBA, and Hayes is crafty. It’s considered a weak draft class and the top picks all have flaws. As one scout said, “It’s like you have to move these guys up five spots from a usual draft.” Haliburton, more so than the other options, can fit next to a ball-dominant playmaker like Paul. In fact, his proficient spot-up shooting and lack of quickness has left questions about whether he’s better suited off the ball.
“I think he can be a little bit of both. I think in transition he’ll be good, he’s good in ball screens. But he also can be that spot-up shooter and spread defenses,” Weber said. “I don’t think he’s that quick little zipper point guard that can wheel and deal, but I think he can come off ball screens, make the great reads. I definitely think he can do that.”
Haliburton is tall at 6-5 and lanky at 175 pounds. His shooting form is funky and the release is slow, but it’s effective. He can’t blow by defenders but reads the defense well and navigates the pick-and-roll. Weber recognized shades of Deron Williams, who he coached at Illinois more than 15 years ago, mixed with Shaun Livingston. Still, Weber noted that Haliburton isn’t nearly as strong as Williams and doesn’t possess an equal pull-up jumper.
“Deron, when I got first got him, he was chunky, but Deron got strong, and Deron tested at the combine as one of the strongest guards there, if not the strongest,” Weber said. “Tyrese is not that, and that would be my biggest question, just overall body strength and being able to deal with that.”
Haliburton certainly isn’t lacking confidence. In separate recent media interviews, he declared himself the best passer in the draft and the No. 1 pick. That’s not going to happen next month and he could certainly be on the board when Leon Rose makes his first pick at No. 8 overall.