After sending Justin Jackson and Zach Randolph to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Harrison Barnes near the trade deadline last season, the Sacramento Kings will reportedly make a strong offer to keep the former University of North Carolina standout for some time.
The Kings are prepared to offer Barnes a four-year deal worth close to $90 million, per Carmichael Dave, a sports talk radio host in Sacramento. The New York Times‘ Marc Stein and The Athletic’s Sam Amick confirmed the initial report.
I've heard the same as Sacramento's own @CarmichaelDave: The Kings intend to offer Harrison Barnes a four-year deal worth nearly $90 million when free agency opens Sunday at 6 PM ET https://t.co/SPrE4LDhhZ
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 28, 2019
Can confirm this. The Kings had great confidence when they traded for Barnes that they could re-sign him on a deal like this. All signs so far point to that taking place. https://t.co/Wn3KwxkgiC
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) June 28, 2019
Barnes declined his $25.1 million player option last week to become an unrestricted free agent. He remained interested in working out a new deal to stay in Sacramento, and all signs point to that happening.
After being acquired by the Kings, Barnes averaged 14.3 points and 5.5 assists per game while shooting 40.8 percent from beyond the arc, his best mark since he shot 40.5 percent with the Warriors during the 2014-2015 season. He played 28 games for the Kings and averaged 34 minutes per night. The Kings can sign Barnes and still be a player in the free agent market, where they’ve expressed significant interest in luring Al Horford.
The Kings finished with a record of 39-43 last season, the most wins they’ve accumulated since the 2005-06 season, which also happens to be the last season they made the playoffs.
