2021-2022 ROSTER TALK: [ARCHIVED]

[Branduil]

Dalton Trigg put up a trade idea that I like better than something I proposed a while back.  I thought Sacramento might like Hardaway as a win-now (OK, play-in now) type piece in a deal for Holmes and Harkless.  Expiring Harkless is there to make the money work.  He is a Duffy guy and free after the current season.

Trigg's deal sends out more assets but replaces Harkless with Barnes.  Many commentators have said we need both a center and a competent scoring wing.  This deal accomplishes both.  Barnes is absolute money on corner 3's, but also creates nearly half of his 2-point shots unassisted.  That would give us one more guy (besides a PG) who can create for himself while also able to play off the ball competently.  His TS% in in the 91st percentile.  He was terrible defensively this last season, but has been at least average in the past and has had seasons where the good O and average D balanced to a plus performer.  Sacramento might be willing to deal because Barnes is entering the final year of his contract and could walk for nothing next summer.

The compensation that Trigg proposes for Holmes/Barnes is:

THJ
Green
22 Pick or 25 pick
Powell

As we know, Holmes fits into our TPE on draft night, so including Powell would be optional for Sacramento.  Sacramento has the 37th overall, so the 22 pick could be a swap.  The Kings have a $4mm TPE, so the Green part of this could create a small TPE.  Barnes is 30 and trading for him means you will be dealing with 31 year old Barnes (Schwartz) next summer for a new contract.  We are adding two competent playoff rotation players here without giving up anyone who contributed to the WCF run.  Playoff rotation probably looks something like:

Holmes/Maxi       Boban
Barnes/DFS        Bertans/Chriss
DFS/Bullock        Brown
Brunson/SD        Frank/Pinson
Luka/SD             Burke

My main nit to pick here is that I think you would have Barnes comes off the bench here. You'd still want Bullock to start for his defense and then have the option to bring in Barnes at any time for some more offensive creation.