2:17pm: The Kings have officially waived Barnes, per a team release.
11:26am: In order for the DeMarcus Cousins trade between the Kings and Pelicans to become official, Sacramento will have to remove a player from its roster, since the team is sending out two players and taking three back. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter link), the Kings are expected to open up that roster spot by waiving Matt Barnes.
Barnes, who will turn 37 next month, signed a two-year deal with the Kings in the offseason and has appeared in 54 games for the team this season. In 25.3 minutes per contest, Barnes has recorded 7.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 2.8 APG.
Although Barnes’ on-court production is probably about in line with what Sacramento expected, his behavior off the court has created problems. The veteran forward was allegedly involved in an altercation at a Chelsea nightclub in early December, and was recently booked for misdemeanor assault. He’ll have to appear in a Manhattan courtroom at a later date as a result of the charge.
Waiving Barnes would leave some dead money on the Kings’ cap. In addition to his guaranteed $6.125MM salary for 2016/17, Barnes also has a 2017/18 player option worth approximately $6.4MM. Assuming Sacramento officially cuts the 14-year veteran, the team would be on the hook for that figure, though it could be stretched across multiple seasons to free up some additional cap room for ’17/18.
After completing their Cousins trade, the Kings are also viewed as likely to waive newly-acquired guard Langston Galloway, per Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). If Sacramento goes ahead with that move, it would open up a spot on the club’s 15-man roster. (Note: Wojnarowski has deleted his tweet, and a more recent report from The Vertical has indicated the Kings will likely keep Galloway).
Miami heat mite need to look into this… he can the small forward
The Heat don’t need him. They’re doing ok without him.
Get that jackass out of the league
I don’t think he cares about winning after all he did sign in sac town .. so maybe he can catch on with the pelicans or hawks or nets.
He is from Sacramento I think
Imagine if he does sign with the Pelicans for the pro-rated minimum and they re-sign Galloway too haha. It would be a very decent first rounder, Tyreke, and Buddy for a cheaper Matt Barnes, Galloway right back, Casspi, and of course Cousins lol
They wouldn’t need to cut Galloway if they cut Barnes. Knowing Sacramento, who knows what they do. They might just cut both and sign another big…
The Pelicans can’t sign Galloway even if the Kings cut him. Teams have to wait a year before they can re-sign players that they traded
With his good track record and positive public image, he has plenty of career opportunities after his basketball career is done for good, which is also today.
Lmbo
He’ll sign with Golden State
Wow, if they waive Langston Galloway that’s even less of an already weak return for Boogie. And if they waive Barnes that’s more dead money on the roster. Not to mention they gave up Omri Casspi too!! This is the worst trade I believe I will ever see in my whole lifetime. Someone please buy the Kings and fire Vlade.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a trade where the throw-in arguably has more value than every other player they received. And the Kings were playing good basketball too that organization is a joke, and not even a funny one.
Depends. Jae Crowder and Khris Middleton come to mind.
This. I’m going to attempt to defend Vlade for a second (even though I think he could be the worst GM in the NBA).
Look at the Dallas/Boston deal that sent Rondo to Dallas. The return at the time was pretty rough. Brandan Wright and Jameer Nelson were pure rentals while Jae Crowder was a total unknown. What does Ainge do? He flips Wright and Nelson while seeing Jae Crowder turn into one of the best two-way players on the team.
Now, are Ainge and Vlade the same? Heck no; not even close. But trades like this have odd ways of working out for the “losing team”.
I called that deal amazing for Boston when it happened. People were all over Ainge. I still dont get it
In Dallas’ defense, they did get Dwight Powell in return. He’s a legit backup big and a guy who can play in big or smaller lineups.
Marc Gasol as a throw in in the Pau Gasol trade. Khris Middleton as a throw in in the Brandon Jennings trade, just off the top of my head
Do I smell Derrick Rose for a bunch of contracts? Knicks aren’t going to be able to get anyone in free agency with the mess going on there. Probably should take back Afflalo and Galloway and ……
Well I assume you wrote this on the can, because Derrick Rose smells like a steaming pile of crap.
Derek Fisher better watch out, now that Barnes has time on his hands.
Bye bye bad boys! HAHAHAHA