Sacramento Kings Rebranding Starts With Matt Barnes

Matt Barnes was targeted by the Sacramento Kings in free agency to help new coach Dave Joeger rebuild the franchise into a playoff team in the Western Conference.

The Sacramento Kings roster has been constantly churning for the past 10 seasons, as the team has failed to make an appearance in the postseason. The team is once again rebuilding, but until now hasn’t been able to land Matt Barnes, a forward capable of reversing the team’s misfortunes.

The impact from Barnes won’t come statistically, as he posted averages of 10.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game last season for the Memphis Grizzlies, but from the style of play he brings to the court.

The team isn’t devoid of talent, as it has selected in the draft lottery in each of the past 10 years. For too long, the Kings have been a team other organizations felt they could simply push around.

Only the Minnesota Timberwolves, at 12 seasons, have experienced a longer playoff drought than Sacramento.

Barnes brings a mentality players selected early in the draft simply can’t — a constant urge to prove he belongs in the NBA.

Memphis originally selected Barnes with the 45th overall pick of the 2002 NBA Draft, but had to claw his way onto an NBA roster.

The Grizzlies dealt Barnes to Cleveland on draft night and he was waived by the Cavaliers a week before the start of the regular season.

The 6’7″ forward managed to latch onto the the Clippers after agreeing to a season long deal stemming from a successful performance on a pair of 10-day contracts.

Ever since, Barnes has been waived once, traded four times and stuck free agent deals nine times. In total, he has played for 10 different teams and he is back in Sacramento for the first time since being dealt away by the team as part of the Chris Webber trade to Philadelphia in 2004.

To erase a decade-long playoff drought, Sacramento brought in former Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger to instill a defensive mentality to a team that surrendered 109.1 points a night, the most in the NBA last season.

Among the first moves the front office made to reshape the roster was signing Barnes to a two-year, $12 million deal in free agency, after Joerger coached him last season in Memphis.

Barnes never turned down a defensive assignment, routinely matching up against the best scorer on the opposition.

Players guarded by Barnes actually converted 6.0 percent more of their three-point attempts at a 35.4 percent clip.

The biggest area of improvement the Kings need to improve defensively is closing out on the perimeter.

Opponents shot 36.6 percent from three-point range against the Kings, the seventh highest percentage in the NBA. The lofty total number of times they converted, a league-high 839 times, remains alarming.

Last season, the Kings allowed 10.2 conversions per game from three-point range, 42 more than the next team. Ironically, Memphis allowed the second most three-point field goals last season.

While Barnes had a penchant of surrendering three-point field goals, he also led the Grizzlies with 119 conversions from beyond the arc. The team even entrusted him with the ball with the game on the line.

All Barnes needed was one preseason game, as he totaled 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals against the Warriors, to win over All-Star teammate DeMarcus Cousins.

It’s a task numerous players have attempted, but few have managed to accomplish.

Since being selected with the fifth overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft, Cousins has been paired along with 59 different teammates, and Sacramento has brought in 10 more for its 2016 training camp roster.

“(Barnes is) a true competitor,” Cousins told the Sacramento Bee. “He leaves it all out there on the floor. I think he’s a great role model for the younger guys on how to approach a game on a nightly basis.”

Last season, Barnes ranked 10th in the league in personal fouls committed, despite playing just the 86th most minutes, helping set a tone of no clean looks at the rim for his opponents.

Cousins believes in the same philosophy, as he committed 236 fouls last season, two more than Barnes.

Since being knocked out of the opening round of the 2006 NBA Playoffs by San Antonio, the Kings have posted 10 consecutive losing seasons and are 125 games below .500.

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Barnes will be plugged in, willing to perform any job necessary to carry Sacramento back into the playoffs — a feat long overdue.