Harrison Barnes Finally Gets It Right In New Deal With Sacramento Kings

At long last, something has worked out for Kings forward Harrison Barnes. It’s been a while.

After a week of rumors suggesting a breakup with Sacramento, Barnes will be back. He signed a three-year contract extension, as ESPN reported. It’s good timing, given that Sacramento just broke through and ended a 16-year playoff drought last season.

Barnes came into the NBA under relatively charmed circumstances, drafted by the Warriors in 2012 with the No. 7 pick, at the cusp of Golden State’s improbable run from NBA ignominy to the century’s top dynasty. He was a starter for most of his Warriors career, reached the postseason all four years, and made two Finals appearances, winning one championship. He was in an ideal role, the No. 3/4 option on a roster led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

But then Barnes left. The Warriors blew a 3-1 Finals lead to Cleveland in 2016, Golden State pushed to sign Kevin Durant in free agency and Barnes was relegated to a free-agent contract with the Mavericks. It wasn’t all bad in Dallas. Sorta. Barnes was around to play with Dirk Nowitzki—in the final two years of his career. He was around to play with Luka Doncic, too … when Doncic was a 19-year-old rookie.

That did not last. Barnes was traded away during Doncic’s first season. Worse, he was traded by Dallas during a game, and had to sit out the final quarter.

He was sent to Hoops Siberia, aka Sacramento, in a deadline trade. The Kings were, at that point, working on a mere 14-year playoff absence, longest in the league. For Barnes, the fall from starter for an early-stages dynasty to shot-jacker for terrible teams came quick and steep. He played well for the Kings in his first three full seasons, averaging 15.7 points and 5.7 rebounds, but Sacramento gathered a record of just 92-134, a .407 winning percentage.

Barnes, Kings Were Ready To Move On

And just as things changed, just as the Kings barreled their way toward respectability by going 48-34 and earning the No. 3 seed in the West last season, it appeared Barnes would be out again, on his way to some other franchise stuck in a bummer phase. Barnes’ Kings contract was slated to be up this week, and the rumor mill had Barnes looking at a deal with the Pacers, or perhaps a return to the Mavericks. Even the Pistons were said to be in the mix.

The Kings were accustomed to, even comfortable with, the idea of losing Barnes. They were considering chasing Kyle Kuzma in free agency. They even had eyes on Warriors star Draymond Green. There was cap space, and the Kings could use it.

Finally, though, a happy turn for Barnes. Rather than finding a new contract with yet another third-tier roster, Barnes sat back down with the Kings this week and worked out a new deal. Barnes will be staying put on a three-year, $54 million contract, one that will see him return to the team he helped return to respectability.

There’s no telling what Barnes role might be going forward. In the final two games of Sacramento’s first-round, seven-game playoff loss to the Warriors, Barnes played a combined 30 minutes, yielding playing time to forward Trey Lyles. It’s possible that the Kings will bring back Lyles, a free agent they’d like to keep, and Lyles could move into the starting five.

It’s possible, too, that the Kings will still add another name free-agent forward, perhaps even Kuzma from the rebuilding Wizards. When it comes to bolstering the rotation in Sacto, Barnes’ spot is the most obvious in need of attention—Barnes is the only one in the group older than 30 (Domantas Sabonis is 27, Kevin Huerter and De’Aaron Fox are both 25, and Keegan Murray will be 23 in August).

It could that Barnes is sent to the bench, where he could be the veteran presence in a very solid unit that also includes Malik Monk and Davion Mitchell. He hasn’t come off the bench since 2014, his second season in the NBA, but at this point, that matters little.

What’s important is that Barnes will not be leaving the Kings, and he will stick around on a reasonable contract. It surely would have stung Barnes to have to leave a situation—just as he did with the Warriors seven years ago—right when the team sees its luck turn. Hard to say where his on-court production goes from here, but at least he knows he will be producing again in Sacramento.