We’re entering the NBA offseason and plenty of teams will have a lot of work to do to put together the best possible team to compete in the next season. It’s been reported that the league is targeting December for the start of the new season, which means we will have a hot free agency and a lot of moves before training camp.
That said, every team in the league is now trying to make fast moves to assemble their squads ahead of the new season. One of the teams that need to make some substantial changes are the Sacramento Kings, a wandering team that’s been unable to be competitive for quite some time now.
They haven’t done good business in recent years, either, and this postseason will be a great opportunity for them to turn things around. An interesting trade proposal comes from Kyle Draper and Chris Forsberg on the Celtics Talk Podcast, who dropped the idea of the Kings landing Gordon Hayward while trading away Harrison Barnes, a player with a huge contract who has had no impact on the team.
“Call up Sacramento. I don’t know what Sacramento’s plan is, I think they’re hopeful that some of those young guys come along, but they got some difficult decisions with Bogdanovic here and they’ve got Harrison Barnes under huge money. Would you take on multiple years of Harrison Barnes if you can send out Gordon Hayward. You’re stepping down probably in talent. You’re probably getting another piece, Bjelica probably, something like that to add to your bench.”
Barnes is owed $61 million for the next three years and he hasn’t been the start the Kings wanted or expected him to become. Last season he averaged 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and shot 38.1% from the beyond-the-arc.
As for Hayward, he is expected to use his player option for the next season with the Celtics. This option will pay him just over $34 million for the next season. Hayward’s tenure with Boston hasn’t been the best and although he showed good things last season, some fans think it’s time for him and the Celtics to part ways.
Last season, Gordon averaged 17.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists for Boston while shooting 38.3% from the 3-point line.
