According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Harrison Barnes has been a name gaining interest around the league. The 29-year-old forward has played very well for the Kings in the last two seasons and could be worth taking a look at for the Miami Heat.
He’s a tall wing who can shoot, rebound, and even pass the ball a bit. Needless to say, Barnes is a very well-rounded player on the offensive end.
Barnes is set to make around $20 million next season, and $18 million the year after that. The price may seem steep, but if the Miami Heat could strike a deal, he would fit in super well.
How could Harrison Barnes help the Miami Heat?
The Heat struggled to score the ball last season, and Barnes is someone who has shown the ability to average close to 20 points per game. When he was with Dallas in the 2016-17 season, he notched a career-high 19.2 points per game.
There is a severe lack of wings in the Heat’s rotation. Outside of Duncan Robinson and Jimmy Butler, they lack any sort of quality wing.
Barnes could slot into that rotation and also spend some time playing power forward playing alongside Bam Adebayo. According to Basketball Reference, he spent 66% of his time on the court at the four last season.
Putting his shooting next to Adebayo would make for a deadly frontcourt. Barnes shot 39.1% from deep last year on 4.4 attempts per game.
Conjuring up a deal to get Barnes would prove to be the hardest part. The Kings are looking to win now, and most of Miami’s tradable assets are younger players.
The most likely scenario, if Sacramento were to be interested, is a deal revolving around Tyler Herro and Goran Dragic for Barnes and Marvin Bagley.
However, this would only add to the Kings’ growing pool of guards. Their main need this offseason will likely be frontcourt players.
The only other possible deal is a sign-and-trade of Kendrick Nunn, but once again, that just adds another guard to Sacramento’s rotation. Unless they make a deal elsewhere to add frontcourt depth, it would be a tricky trade to navigate for Pat Riley.
All that being said, Barnes is definitely a player the Miami Heat should, at the very least, look into. His versatility on both ends of the court would be a great help in Miami.