Sacramento Kings: Ranking De’Aaron Fox and the rest of the starting 5
4. Harrison Barnes
The Kings could do much worse than having their fourth-best starter being Harrison Barnes. His counting stats look great so far this season, with Barnes averaging 16.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Still, Barnes leaves something to be desired. His shooting could always be better, as he shoots lat 80 percent from the free throw line and just 30.8 percent on his 3-pointers.
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Barnes’ game often feels one-dimensional. In the past five contests, Barnes has just one block, hasn’t grabbed more than one steal in a single game, and only had more than one assist once, when he randomly dished out eight against the Denver Nuggets.
Adding more utility to his game could make Barnes more of an X-factor for the Kings. He scores more in losses (17.8 points per game) versus wins (15.0 points per game) and his three-point shooting is vastly better in losses. But he averages 5.0 assists in wins, versus just 0.5 assists in losses.
This is Barnes’ second full season in Sacramento and could likely be his last, as he’s not young enough to be part of the youth movement the Kings are pushing. It’s never too late to teach an old player new tricks, though, a lesson Barnes should heed.