Depending on the price, Harrison Barnes could be a good fit for the Cleveland Cavaliers
By Chad Porto
Harrison Barnes could be a good fit for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking for upgrades this offseason, and despite hearing a bunch of bad ideas, there are still some good suggestions out in the either that may help the team improve next year. Finding upgrades isn’t like playing NBA 2K, where you can just put guys together based on their overall success. You actually need a balanced team. You need players that fit well together. You need to be able to acquire specific pieces without giving up too much. That’s why one of the best options that could be on the market is Harrison Barnes of the Sacramento Kings.
Evan Dammarell of Right Down Euclid wrote that Toronto Raptor player, Gary Trent Jr, Minnesota Timberwolves Malik Beasley, and Barnes are all in play for trades this offseason with Cleveland being a potential landing spot.
"League sources say that players like Toronto’s Gary Trent Jr., Sacramento’s Harrison Barnes or Minnesota’s Malik Beasley are also viable options for Cleveland via trade as well. But, again, due to the financial complications involving those aforementioned players, drafting someone could also be a path too. The next few months could be interesting for the Cavaliers but, there will be more to come next week on that."
Barnes isn’t just the best fight of all three players listed, but he may be the best fit for anyone involved. So why does Barnes fit with this team? Well, he’s long. He’s 6’7 with a decent wingspan, so defensively he can help out in ways that Collin Sexton and Darius Garland may not be able to.
He’s a reliable three-point shooter that hovers around 40% every year. He’s not elite, but he’s good enough that he could make four or five shots from that distance per game. The Cavs need court-stretchers like him.
While he’s 29, he’s also in the last year of his deal and isn’t going to demand $35+ million per year like a Bradley Beal. He’s also fairly reliable, you know you’re getting 75+ games per year with him, and due to him not being some ultra-athlete, he’s never relied on his athleticism to score. So he’s going to age well.
What would the Cleveland Cavaliers give up for Harrison Barnes?
Landing Barnes isn’t going to be as hard as people think, namely because the Sacramento Kings are run by type-writing turtles. The only thing they can finish typing however is The Art of the Deal, so you know getting a deal over on them won’t be hard to do.
You could just offer Barnes for some Hi-C Echo Cooler boxes, already sucked dry, and you could probably get Barnes for that alone. Assuming the turtle wranglers are in the office that day, you may need to actually offer up something of value.
Barnes hasn’t found success with the Kings, and they may be looking for someone comparable in talent but with a different set of skills. Enter Caris LeVert. LeVert didn’t fit in well with Cleveland, but he is a good player. He’s more of a ball-handler than Barnes, and the Cavs really don’t need another kinda-sorta-ball handler. They need a corner shooter who can play defense. While Barnes isn’t Ben Wallace, Barnes can hustle and get in front of someone. That’s good enough for a man with his shooting skillset.
For LeVert, he’d get to go pair-back up with former teammate Domantas Sabonis and maybe give De’Aaron Fox the player he needs on the wing.
Worst case scenario, the Kings flip LeVert for a pick or young player at the deadline. If the Kings need a draft pick, LeVert, and a second-round pick should be all you need to get the deal done.
Barnes wouldn’t be the face of the franchise and just needs to be good enough to keep the Cavs’ offense flowing. He would likely start next to Garland and Lauri Markkanen as a stretch-two, but that should be a good position for him to play. He’ll be able to drive in on smaller two-guards and use the oversized forwards to pick and roll for some three-point opportunities.