Sacramento Kings and forward Harrison Barnes have agreed to a three-year, $54 million contract extension, a team source has confirmed to the athlete Thursday. ESPN was the first to report the news. Here’s what you need to know:
- Barnes’ contract contains 10 percent of his salary, which means he will receive that portion of his salary as a bonus if he is traded.
- The 2015 NBA champion started all 82 regular season games for the Kings last season, averaging 15 points and 4.5 rebounds per game on 37.4 of 3 percent.
- Barnes will be entering his sixth year in Sacramento after being traded from the Dallas Mavericks during the 2018-19 season.
- The Kings finished 48-34 last season, third in the Western Conference. They were eliminated in the first round of the postseason by the Golden State Warriors.
the athleteInstant Analysis:
What does this mean for royalty
They lined up to bring back their entire starting lineup from the 48-win team that clinched the third seed last season. These are D’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Barnes, Keegan Murray and Domantas Sabonis. That 56+ group was a league-high 900 minutes together.
No other five-man squad has played more than 738 minutes together. Continuity is enormous in this league. Look what the starting lineup Denver Nuggets have been able to do in past playoffs. When there is an increased level of comfort with your teammates, there is an added intangible advantage.
Barnes may not be the hottest wing option on the market. Obviously, Sacramento sniffed out Kyle Kuzma and a few other big names. But Barnes is as consistent as they come. He was one of only three players to play all 82 matches last season.
You can score him 15 points, five rebounds, and a 40-percent-under-3 mark on decent size almost every season. He was knocked out in the playoffs. You could certainly argue that an upgrade in his place was necessary for Sacramento to advance to true contender status. But Barnes is a two-way innings-eater fixed on the wing and this Kings team is very tender in that exact spot.
If an upgrade wasn’t on the way, they needed it again at least Repeat last season’s success. – Slater
What does this refer to sacramento
The Kings unlocked the potential to create approximately $34 million in cap space with a night dump project from Richown Holmes. And some have wondered if a big fish is on the way – Kuzma, Jeremy Grant, Draymond Green. But it looks like this Barnes deal will get them out of this stale market.
It now looks likely that the Kings will use some of the remaining space they have to renegotiate and expand Sabonis, try to bring back Trey Lyles and possibly lure Sasha Vezenkov from Greece. – Slater
background
Barnes was drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the No. 7 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. Through seven postseason games against his former team last season, Barnes averaged 10.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. every game, shooting 24 percent from behind the arc.
The former North Carolina Tar Heel averages 14.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists on 37.8 percent from 3-point range.
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(Photo: Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
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