Sacramento Kings: How Harrison Barnes fits in

The Sacramento Kings contributed to the busy 2019 trade deadline by agreeing to three deals. Two were fairly insignificant, while one filled a noticeable hole in their lineup with Harrison Barnes.

The Sacramento Kings surpassed the expectations of many with their 2018-19 campaign. Fans and analysts alike were skeptical of what the young group could accomplish. In fact, in Hoops Habit’s annual “Season Predictions,” this writer believed the Kings would finish dead-last in the Western Conference.

However, we were wrong. The Kings played their best basketball in over a decade and the front office decided to prime the team for a playoff push.

They already had a solid young backcourt of De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield; both had career seasons and were candidates for the Most Improved Player award. Willie Cauley-Stein took a leap and became the paint presence the team has needed since trading DeMarcus Cousins. Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic provided support off the bench when the starters needed a break.

There was one glaring hole in the Kings’ rotation, however. They needed a combo-forward who could score 15-20 points nightly. Tobias Harris was a candidate that could’ve exceeded these expectations, but the team settled for a discount version in Harrison Barnes.

Barnes was disgraced after his performance in the 2016 NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors and was subsequently dumped to the Dallas Mavericks. His tenure in Dallas saw solid personal numbers, but they were fairly empty, as the Mavs never exceeded 33 wins with Barnes as their leader.

To acquire Harry B, the Kings only had to part ways with Justin Jackson and Zach Randolph (who hadn’t seen any playing time all season). This was presumably a salary dump by the Mavericks so they could pursue bigger free agents this summer.

His numbers took a slight hit after his arrival in Sacramento. He spent most of his time in Dallas as the primary offensive option and slid down to third with the Kings. As a Maverick, Barnes averaged 18.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game on 54.0 percent true shooting.

With the Kings, his scoring dropped to 14.3 points per game, but his shooting improved to 57.8 percent true shooting and his rebounding jumped to 5.5 boards per game. Barnes was able to contribute by stretching the floor and covering for Fox’s deficiencies from deep.

Unfortunately, aside from beyond the arc and at the rim, Barnes struggled, shooting below 40 percent from 3-16 feet.

He was able to find teammates in prime scoring positions, like Buddy Hield, who shot 48.5 percent on 3-point attempts when Barnes dished him the ball. That’s to be expected, since Hield is one of the best shooters in the game, but Barnes also helped De’Aaron Fox score from deep.

The second-year point guard connected on 54.5 percent of his 3-point attempts off of Barnes’ assists. On the whole, Fox shot 37.1 percent from deep last season. If Barnes’ playmaking can improve his teammates’ shooting this significantly, look for the coaching staff to urge him to raise his assists from the 1.5 per game he averaged in 2018-19.

Harrison Barnes is soaking up a large portion of the Kings’ salary cap and will be next season too, since he will likely opt into his $25.1 million player option for 2019-20. If he doesn’t clean up his percentages from mid-range to become a more efficient scorer, the Kings could be looking to end their partnership. Barnes fills a need for the Kings, but his contract looks like a waste if he can’t make an impact on a winning basketball team.