Tyrese Haliburton, Payton Pritchard appear to be the steals of NBA Draft

It’s still early, but there are two players that are increasingly looking like steals from the 2020 NBA Draft – the Kings’ Tyrese Haliburton and Celtics’ Payton Pritchard.

Haliburton was the 12th overall pick in the draft out of Iowa State University, and has instantly made his presence felt for the Kings, who are 4-4 in the early going. Haliburton has averaged 11.7 points and 4.7 assists in 28.2 minutes, but the stats don’t quite tell the whole story.

Haliburton took over the game during the Kings’ victory over the Bulls on Wednesday night, despite returning from a two-game absence due to a wrist injury. He only had two points heading into the final quarter, but scored 15 in the fourth, going 6-for-7 and knocking down three 3-pointers as the Kings pulled out a 128-124 victory. He also grabbed four rebounds, got two steals and blocked a shot in the quarter.

“All of the reports that our scouts and everyone, front office got on him was the intangibles that really make him a special player,” Kings head coach Luke Walton said, per Yahoo Sports. “I think as the game goes on and the pressure comes of the fourth quarter, it just heightens his skill set from a mental standpoint to just making plays. The later in the game, the more confidence he gets.”

The other steal is Payton Pritchard, and he too had an eye-opening game on Wednesday night. Pritchard was taken with the 26th pick out of Oregon, and has found himself playing 22 minutes per game and averaging 8.3 points, good for fifth on the team.

Pritchard only scored six points in the Celtics’ victory over the heat, but two of them were the game-winning putback with 0.2 seconds left to play. Two nights before, in a win over the Raptors, Pritchard scored a career-high 23 points and went 8-of-13 from the field.