​Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton revealed on the “Numbers On the Board” podcast that he and his agent called the Phoenix Suns about drafting him in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft.The Suns instead used the 10th overall pick in the first round to take Jalen Smith out of Maryland.The Sacramento Kings later chose Haliburton 12th overall.”Stix is my boy, I played with Stix, that’s my dawg,” Haliburton said about Smith, whose nickname is Stix. “We were calling Phoenix. ‘Ya’ll need a PG. Let me come play with Book.’ They were like, ‘We’re going with a power forward.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know who they’re talking about, but they’re not drafting me.'”More: Tyrese Haliburton more than just best ‘facilitator’ in NBA DraftThe Suns had a point guard at the time in Ricky Rubio, but ended up trading him to the Oklahoma City Thunder and acquiring Chris Paul. The Suns reached the 2021 Finals and won a franchise-record 64 games in 2021-22 with Paul, but they haven’t had a true point guard since trading Paul for Bradley Beal after the 2022-23 season.Booker, a natural shooting guard, has been the team’s main facilitator since. So, Haliburton is a topic when it comes to Phoenix because the thought is that he could’ve played behind Rubio or Paul and then emerged as the starter. Rubio played one season in Phoenix, Monty Williams’ first year as head coach.Williams had coached Paul in New Orleans. James Jones was Phoenix’s general manager.Jones addressed the draft decision at the time, saying he liked the idea of Smith sharing the court with Deandre Ayton to help match the size of the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.“I think when you look at his ball skills and his comfort level, being on the perimeter, he allows us to play with two dynamic bigs in space,” Jones said back then about Smith. “So I don’t think it will be a problem. I’m looking forward to seeing those two guys anchoring the floor together, even if it’s for stints.”The Lakers had just won the 2019-20 NBA championship with bigs Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard.The Nuggets reached the 2020 Western Conference finals with now three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic at center and Jerami Grant at power forward,#Suns GM James Jones wants to see “two dynamic bigs in space” as he sees matchups with Lakers and Nuggets’ size, skill and versatility. He’ll see it tonight.Monty Williams starting Deandre Ayton and rookie Jalen Smith in 2nd preseason game at Utah. Cam Johnson out (calf). pic.twitter.com/eG4D2psFFh— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) December 15, 2020“We talk about teams like the Lakers, those are teams that have great size, skill versatility,” Jones said back in 2020. “Talk about teams like Denver, they have great size, skill and versatility.”More: Deandre Ayton-Jalen Smith tandem Suns GM James Jones envisioned may happen with Indiana PacersThe 2020 draft was during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, looking back at the timeline, the draft was on Nov. 18, 2020.The Suns traded for Paul on N