After re-signing with the Sacramento Kings to a four-year contract worth $85-million, Harrison Barnes will try to solidify the team’s small forward position in his first full season with the team.
Harrison Barnes got paid handsomely this summer. Following a deadline trade from the Dallas Mavericks, Barnes appeared in just 28 games with the Sacramento Kings last season. In those 28 games, Barnes showed enough on the court to get Vlade Divac and company to hand him a contract worth $85 million over the next four years.
The role Barnes played in Dallas wildly differed from how he was used once he got to Sacramento. In his two-plus seasons as a Maverick, Barnes put up a usage rate of 24.9%, a much higher rate than the 16.3% he put up in a Kings uniform. Barnes is much more suited to be the third or fourth option like he is with the purple and white, rather than be the primary scorer.
Rather than use Barnes as the primary scoring option, as he was for most of his time in Dallas, the Kings used Barnes as a tertiary piece. With De’Aaron Fox and Buddy Hield being the team’s main offensive engines last year, Barnes saw a lot of his touches coming via spot-up threes and other actions set up by the Kings’ backcourt. If used correctly, Barnes can be an elite role player for this Kings team.
Here are my three predictions for Harrison Barnes’ first full season with the Kings.