The former Mavericks owner wanted the superstar point guard for the Mavericks, but his former coach stole him away.

Led by an egalitarian pace-and-space attack toplined by All-NBA point guard Tyrese Haliburton and All-Star power forward Pascal Siakam, Indiana has barreled through the playoffs as a 50-win No. 4 seed in the league's supposedly junior varsity Eastern Conference.

According to Jamal Collier and Tim MacMahon of ESPN, the Dallas Mavericks wanted to draft Tyrese Haliburton in 2020. The Sacramento Kings selected Haliburton with the 12th overall pick.

The Pacers started the season 10-15, but now they're two wins away from their first NBA championship. They've earned our respect.

In the playoffs thus far, Mathurin has been averaging 11.1 points on .504/.326/.865 shooting splits, plus 2.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists. He's converting the aforementioned 86.5 percent of his free throws while attempting 4.7 takes per bout, which makes it all the more disconcerting that he couldn't nail his attempts late.

The series is tied at 2-2 heading into Game 5 in Oklahoma City on June 16. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

The Indiana Pacers hold a 2-1 series lead over the Oklahoma ... they tried to trade for Haliburton in the 2020 NBA Draft. "The Mavericks had Haliburton as the No.1 player on their 2020 draft ...

The Indiana Pacers lost their first 2025 NBA playoff game on Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark in attendance. After going 8-0 during this NBA playoff run with Clark supporting the team, the Pacers dropped Game 4 of the NBA Finals to the Oklahoma City Thunder to tie the series up at 2-2.

Tyrese Haliburton credits Rick Carlisle as a 'basketball savant' who elevated his game as the Pacers lead the Thunder 2-1 in the NBA Finals.