When the basketball world takes a look at this year’s Sacramento Kings, there are a few things they tend to hyperfixate on. The duo of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, Mike Brown’s defensive influence, if Keegan Murray was the right pick and how the new cast will play together. One thing that doesn’t get brought up as much as it should is how Harrison Barnes will play this season now that he’s back at small forward.
Many people around the league believed the Kings would ship HB off in a package for a really talented player. Especially since him and Murray share so many qualities. However, the Kings decided to go a different route and put a little trust into one of their key players. Going into his 11th season in the league, Barnes is poised to bounce back from some of the criticism he’s gotten in the last couple of years.
When the Kings traded for HB back in 2019 —in the middle of a game —he was on the tail end of the best three-year stretch of his career. After back-to-back NBA Finals appearances with the Golden State Warriors, he joined the Dallas Mavericks in 2016 and even though the fit wasn’t great, was one of their best players.
Over the course of two and a half seasons in Dallas, HB averaged 18.6 points, 5.1 rebounds while shooting 4.5 three pointers per game on 37 percent and 44 percent from the field on 15.6 attempts per game; the highest volume of his career.
Since coming to the Kings, he has still been one of the better players on the team. But his shooting volume has dropped, partially due to the fact he took on a new role. For the majority of his career, HB has played the three. But in Sacramento, he has often been tasked with playing at the four.
Yes, in the modern era, many wings play multiple positions have have similar assignments. However, the Kings have struggled with both rebounding and interior defense for quite some time now, and HB was put into a position to try and pick up some of the slack when he’s in at the four. But with the addition of Murray and some depth at the four spot, HB will be set up to thrive in the 2022-23 season.
Kings coach Mike Brown says De’Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes and Domantas Sabonis will start. The shooting guard and power forward spots are somewhat undecided.
— Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) October 1, 2022
What is the best-case scenario for Barnes?
The best-case scenario for HB is for him to have his most efficient and impactful season since he was traded to the…
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