East Notes: Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton, Bucks, Nets

Pacers

Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton admitted he was angry when the Pistons chose guard Killian Hayes ahead of him in the 2020 NBA Draft. Haliburton was selected 12th overall by the Kings; Hayes went No. 7.

 “What is this, they’re not picking me?” Haliburton said, mimicking his agent’s motion, via Jared Ramsey of the Detroit Free Press. “And then it flashed up, Killian Hayes, and I was like, ‘What!?’ In that moment I was frustrated, but I knew the Kings were my floor. But, still in the moment, I was just angry. I was like, ‘What do you mean? They need a point guard and they’re not picking me?’ So that one definitely felt the most personal.”

Haliburton knew Detroit needed a point guard at the time.

“So, in that moment, I already felt like I was the best point guard in the draft, but (LaMelo Ball) was touted as the number one guy,’ Haliburton said. “So, after he got drafted, I was like ‘It’s gotta be me.'”

• Pacers legend Reggie Miller said he believes Haliburton will lead the franchise to a title someday. We have the full post here.

Bucks

The Bucks are just 3-7 since Doc Rivers replaced Adrian Griffin as coach, dropping to third place in the Eastern Conference.

Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo said it’s time to pick it up now that the All-Star break has come and gone.

“We have to want it, man,” he said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Like, enough with the talking. Enough with the, ‘our (expletive) don’t stink’ mentality. Do we really want it? Are we putting in the work, are we gonna put in the effort, are we going to fight for what we think that we deserve or what the goals we’re trying to accomplish? That is the most important thing. Guys are tired. Maybe it’s an excuse. New coach. Excuse. New system. Excuse. New defense. Excuse. All these, it’s excuses. At the end of the day, are you going to try to play basketball, try to compete? They competed harder than us (Thursday), they competed harder than us (Tuesday). We are not on track of what we are trying to do.”

Antetokounmpo wasn’t finished.

“I feel like the team feels it. The team feels it. I feel it,” he said. “And I have now seven days that I have to try to take care of my body, try to rest from this mentally draining season from all the changes and all the things that are going on. Just try to relax a little bit as much as I can, try to take care of my body, try to come back and try to go.”

• Milwaukee has signed point guard Ryan Rollins to a two-way contract. We have the full story here.
• The biggest difference between the Bucks and 76ers for guard Patrick Beverley? “Everybody wants to win, it’s not about stats,” Beverley said, via our Ashish Mathur.

Nets

• Forward Mikal Bridges was “pretty vocal behind the scenes” about the offensive schemes of former coach Jacque Vaughn, per Shams Charania of The Athletic. Vaughn was fired by Brooklyn the day after the All-Star Game.
• The Nets have yet to name an interim coach, though the decision will be coming soon, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post.
• It may be time for the Nets to part ways with GM Sean Marks, opined Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post. Vaughn was the third coach fired in Marks’ eight seasons — joining Kenny Atkinson and Steve Nash.