There has not been a lot for Sacramento Kings fans to get excited about over the past 15 years. They haven't been to the playoffs since 2006, with a litany of draft busts and disappointing seasons to show for it. Tyrese Haliburton and the Kings missed the playoffs yet again this season, thanks to some terrible injury luck, playing in a loaded Western Conference, and having one of the worst defenses in the NBA (they were statistically the least efficient defense in the NBA this past season, a whole point behind the Trail Blazers in 29th place, per NBA.com).

One of the bright spots of an otherwise forgettable season from the Sacramento Kings was the play of Tyrese Haliburton, as before being sidelined with a left knee injury which thankfully featured no ligament damage, he showed he can be a foundational piece for the Kings in the years going forward.

The former Iowa State standout is a shoo-in to make the All-Rookie first team, and here are three takeaways that Kings fans can be excited about heading into the offseason.

1. Haliburton can man the point when De'Aaron Fox is off the floor and excel as a secondary playmaker with Fox

Fox looked like one of the best point guards in the league at times this season, and Kings can fans can gain solace knowing that Haliburton can man the point without much of a drop-off when Fox is not on the floor.

Tyrese Haliburton is a phenomenal playmaker, who can score efficiently with and without De'Aaron Fox on the floor.

When Fox had to be out towards the end of this season due to COVID-19 protocol, Haliburton picked up the slack for the franchise cornerstone, upping his counting stats significantly.

In the first three games of Fox being out, Haliburton averaged 17.0 points, 8.7 assists, 2.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.7 three-pointers in 34.3 minutes per contest, all marks significantly higher than his season averages.

Those numbers don't jump off the page at you, but for a rookie point guard playing in a pandemic with a lack of a summer league or training camp, on a non-playoff team with one of the worst defenses in the league, they're not bad at all.

Haliburton complements Fox well when the two point guards play together, as Fox's lightning-quick speed opens up driving lanes and corner threes that Haliburton could thrive on.

Both guys are driven guards who can create shots, consistently make threes, and keep defenders honest while playing their hearts out on defense and leading a young Kings team in need of some guidance.

Tyrese Haliburton and Fox give the Kings the most valuable thing a young NBA team can have: an exciting backcourt that can grow together and lead their team on both sides of the floor.

2. Haliburton can score and create shots at an ultra-efficient rate

We don't see a lot of rookies rank in the top 50 in the NBA in assist rate, a statistic that helps show us what percentage of teammates' field goals are assisted by a singular player.

Tyrese Haliburton posted an impressive 24.6% assist rate this season, ranking only behind LaMelo Ball among rookies and ahead of talented guards like Kemba Walker, Zach LaVine, and C.J. McCollum.

Haliburton helped his teammates get a lot of buckets this season while getting buckets himself in a number of ways, thanks to a high basketball I.Q., a nice floater, and his ability to trick defenders with some nice ball fakes.

High school point guards who struggle to create space for themselves should watch the ways Tyrese Haliburton makes opponents freeze in their tracks with simple ball fakes. Fast forward to the 1:44 mark of the video below

In a game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Tyrese Haliburton catches the ball in the corner and takes a screen from center Richaun Holmes.

The pick-and-roll of the first action is where Haliburton thrives, as he is efficiency and consistency off screens has grown exponentially since his Iowa State days.

Haliburton comes hard off the screen, putting Portland's Jusuf Nurkic in a two-on-one with Holmes rolling towards the basket.

Nurkic is looking to contest Haliburton at the rim as if he has done his homework. He knows that Haliburton still struggles to draw fouls, as the rookie only shot about 1 free throw a game and got to the line in only six of his first 18 games.

Haliburton doesn't have a lot of space here but makes Nurkic freeze lose his focus on him with a crafty fake before getting an uncontested finger roll layup for the score.

Ball fakes like that show off Haliburton's basketball I.Q. He's not the fastest or biggest point guard in the league, but he has the veteran savvy to create space, find open teammates, and finish in the paint with a solid floater.

Tyrese Haliburton can also capitalize on scoring from deep, as despite his mechanics looking a little funky, his step-back creates the space the guard needs to shoot from three, where he shot nearly 41 percent this season.

If he can learn to finish in contact and get to the free throw at a more consistent rate, it wouldn't crazy to see him climb from scoring 13 points per game to scoring 20 points per game in a few seasons.

3. Tyrese Haliburton gives Kings fans hope for the future

Picking Haliburton at the No. 12 spot has been one of the smartest decisions the Kings organization has made in a while, as they aren't usually the team that finds the diamond in the rough when it comes to the draft.

They have whiffed on quite a few first-round picks, as former Kings lottery picks like Thomas Robinson, Nik Stauskas, and Ben McLemore never lived up to expectations. It's obviously too soon to call Marvin Bagley III a bust, but passing on Luka Doncic to take Bagley in 2018 has to have Sacramento fans pulling their hair out.

For the past decade and a half, it never felt like the Kings had a clear direction as a franchise. As good as DeMarcus Cousins was in his Kings tenure, those Sacramento Kings were stuck in NBA purgatory, as they were not good enough to make the playoffs, but often not bad enough to get a top-5 pick.

Pairing a pick like Haliburton next to Fox gives the Kings a clear direction as a franchise. They are a young franchise that has more than a few holes, but those two guards give Sacramento fans a reason to turn on the games and hope for the future.

Don't be surprised if Tyrese Haliburton and Fox help the Kings end that lengthy playoff drought in the next few seasons, as that duo can score at will, create shots for the role players around them, and help lead a Sacramento team whose darkest days are behind them.