10:00pm: The extension is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
7:11pm: The Kings will keep veteran forward Harrison Barnes off the free agent market, having reached an agreement on a three-year, $54MM contract extension, agent Jeff Schwartz tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
The deal will include a 10% trade kicker, reports Sam Amick of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Barnes has been a full-time starter for the Kings since they acquired him from Dallas at the 2019 trade deadline. The 31-year-old has appeared in 317 games since then, averaging 15.4 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and 2.3 APG with a .472/.387/.827 shooting line in 34.0 minutes per contest.
Barnes signed a four-year, $94MM contract as a free agent in 2016 and got $85MM for four years in 2019. Given his age and the fact that so few teams had cap room this summer, it makes sense that he’d have to settle for a slightly lesser annual salary.
However, it’s also not a surprise that he’ll receive well above the mid-level, since his performance hasn’t noticeably dropped off in recent years. Barnes had a disappointing playoff showing vs. Golden State, but was as solid as ever during the 2022/23 regular season, with averages of 15.0 PPG and 4.5 RPG on .473/.374/.847 shooting. He was also one of just 10 NBA players not to miss a single game this year.
The Pacers were reportedly among the teams believed to have interest in Barnes, but he’ll officially sign a new deal with Sacramento before reaching free agency, since he remained extension-eligible until June 30.
Barnes’ new contract will cut into the Kings’ projected cap room, but the team should still have approximately $18MM in space, according to Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
As Gozlan observes, Sacramento could use that room to give Domantas Sabonis a raise via a contract renegotiation-and-extension while still having enough left to go after another rotation player in free agency. The club would also have the room exception – projected to get a bump to $7.7MM – once it uses up its cap room.
The Kings would also have the ability to operate as an over-the-cap team, which would allow them to access their full $12.4MM mid-level exception and $4.5MM bi-annual exception, but would remove the option of a Sabonis renegotiation.
Bro lost em the chance at a ring yet he got paid wow
Oh wow. You are so unaware.
Harrison Barnes was a really good signing because it also leaves enough money available to go after a nice piece to compliment the guys that got the organization to the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons. They definitely need a rim protector.
No it doesn’t.. we have 15-17M left. 8M is about to go to Sabonis on his extension. 5M is going to Lyles… salary cap space for impact player is gone.
You were never getting an impact player for that little money, and kings don’t have a ready replacement for Barnes
Barnes finessed another contract?? Smfh. Congrats I guess. Not my money. He was trash again in the playoffs this year. The Kings should’ve won that series.
Barnes was fine in the playoffs. That series was won by Kevon Looney and anyone who says anything different did not watch those games. End of discussion
Fine in the playoffs? He averaged 5pts a game… fine
What part of you thinks the Kings leaned on Barnes to score? Fox, Murray, Domas, Huerter… every other starter is a better scorer and the offense runs through them, Fox and Sabonis in particular. Even on the bench Monk is the primary option. But I’m glad you figured out how to use StatMuse. Dork.
Thus the reason for him to step up. And he didn’t. And now for $18M peer in the wrong side of 30.
Warriors defense is more to blame than Barnes, and the kings didn’t have a chance at winning that series, even with the refs working as the 6th man out there, which was obvious.
He averaged 15 minutes and 5 FGA in the first He averaged 5 FGA in the first 3 games. He’s not a ball handler. Not his fault the offense centered around Foxx, Sabonis and Monk taking, on average, 60 FHA per game. A +20 over the regular season average. USE CONTEXT TO UNDERSTAND THINGS!!!!
Good signing
SMH… not a fan of this. Took a pay cut of 2 mil a year. But 54 mil for a guy to come off the bench.
Come off the bench? So not only are you talking Kings basketball without seeing any of it, you also can’t read. Your opinion is very valuable.
Barnes has helped to build up the kings. I think what Funderburke is saying is that Barnes should be on the bench as a sixth man. Say if they got Grant or Kuzma. would Murray be the sixth man ? Trust Funderburke, he backed up Webber. Subbing in in the clutch because Webber is playing hot potato like LeBron. (timeout oops) sorry J Rose for…
Webber will never be HOF
The guy started 82 of 82 games last year. He injured his ankle in practice before game 1 thus didn’t start and came off the bench. Yeezus is just takes a minute to educate yourself.
If this deal works out to $16M, $18M & $20M, I like it. Sabonis gets his $8M raise, still another $12M for another rotation player and Vezenkov gets the $7.7M room exception.
That leaves the $12M TPE for the trade deadline…
Overall, something like a B or B- move
Why? I understand extending Barnes. He’s a gritty vet with playoff experience and great in the locker room. They could’ve waited until after signing someone in free agency though. $18 million isn’t going to get anyone that makes the beam any brighter.
Probably the Sabonis extension… they want to be near the cap and have that MLE available
Barnes would’ve been an UFA and they had his Bird rights. They could have extended Sabonis, signed a a decent free-agent like Kuzma or made a run at Reeves or Brown then resign Barnes.
Honestly they don’t really need more offense … that was blazing in the playoffs. What they really need is more defense and Brown would be a great sign.
Barnes would’ve had a $27.5MM cap hold in free agency that would’ve essentially eliminated their cap room unless they renounced him (which would have meant losing his Bird rights).
Thanks Luke, I wasn’t aware of that.
And risk him getting a better offer or leaving. Players are people.
But instead they trade away their 1st Rd pick to get rid of contract to just re-sign Barnes. I told everyone they would do something like this. Same exact team
Great move by Monte. HB has taken a step back defensively but he is a leader in that locker room. Also takes us out of the Kuzma sweepstakes which is a huge win. Should also allow guys like Lyles and Vezenkov to get solid minutes. Not terribly thrilled with 20 million in the last year but thats the cost of doing business.
Don’t let people who don’t watch Kings basketball tell you this is a bad move.
For Kings it’s the right move. They made big progress last yr. Gotta move forward. He’s a part of that.
Does this move affect whether they will still try to go after Draymond Green?
Mike Brown is unbelievable and he’s true to his words and principles. He values Barnes loyalty and leadership in the locker room. Brown is building a winning culture and not some superficial short term result. Sacramento will be winners for yrs to come.
I can see them adding Brown and Sasha, improvement of Mitchell and Murray, possibly Plumlee and one more year of MB and staff. I can see why people wanted Kuzma, the grass is always greener, he makes a lot of mental errors.
No brainer, really. He’s a combo F, who plays both end of the floor. That’s valuable anywhere in this league, but particularly on a team playing the style SAC is, with the rest of their current roster. Kuzma doesn’t bring that skill set. He is younger and would be a good add for offense (where they’re already strong), but not in lieu of Barnes.
Barnes is a great player. Never complains about play time or lack of shots, plays both offense and defense and at a premium position. And, kings covet former warriors, always have.
Should of waited. I thought they were signing a impact player at PF?. Why did they trade their 1st Rd pick then? Pointless move now. Another clueless team. Good for Barnes though. Clueless owner. Trade a 1st for nothing now.
Trade a 1st to dump Holmes to resign Barnes. SMH
Grant or Kuzma* Barnes was my third choice
The playoffs were beyond disappointing when it comes to HB. The first 7 games of the season were the same. The other 75 games were absolutely solid. If you’re actually a kings fan the thing we were bitching about most of the year was the fact that he WASNT putting the ball up more! His efficiency was outstanding. The guys in exit interviews all brought him up as THAT GUY who could get to everybody and help. I’m not pissed at all about this especially with the ludicrous contracts being thrown around . 1320am had a whole conversation on Dillon freaking brooks the other day! … yuck .. f***. That. Glad you’re ur still here Black Falcon!
An overpay. $12M per at best and for two years at most.
Kings should sign Dario Saric
They needed a defensive PF. Grant would of been nice. Kuzma on offense. Barnes is nice . Older than everyone else in the lineup. They heard everyone talking about Barnes and they threw money at him
Barnes should be playing in Portland
Someone explain now why they traded their 1st Rd pick? To re-sign Barnes? Don’t tell me we traded Holmes bad contract plus a 1st rd pick for………. Nothing. Doesn’t make sense to me. Kings get a F for the draft. Nothing against Jones
He was likely only going to get the MLE elsewhere, why would you pay 6M more per year? Split the difference. Who negotiated this? His agent deserves a raise.