Huh? Is there even a rationale for that trade besides, "I don't like the cut of De'Aaron Fox's jib"?
In hindsight? No.
At the time?
Fox was playing some of his worst basketball since his rookie season, looked a step slow, and Tyrese definitely looked like the better building block.
Simmons (at the time) wasn't far removed from being a multi-time all-star and defensive first team player.
Is Fox better than Haliburton? Maybe, though I'd probably give the nod to Tyrese.
Is Sabonis better than what Fox likely would have fetched at the time? Probably, but who knows.
Had the Kings decided to keep Haliburton and trade Fox, Simmons was a potential name that was floated. Obviously that would have been a disaster. But it wasn't nearly as apparent at the time