Boston Celtics Receive: F Harrison Barnes
Sacramento Kings Receive: F/C Tristan Thompson, G/F Romeo Langford, BOS 2021 2nd Round Pick, BOS 2022 2nd Round Pick
One of the main reasons the Boston Celtics can go after a guy like Harrison Barnes, who is owed $20.2M next season, is because they still have money left over from their Gordon Hayward trade exception.
The Celtics used a solid chunk of the $28.5M trade exception to absorb Evan Fournier’s contract, but they are still left with $11.05M that they could use to bring in a player like Barnes with a lot less financial restrictions than imagined. Boston also has two other relatively big trade exceptions of $5M and $4.77M stemming from trading Daniel Theis at the trade deadline this year and Enes Kanter to Portland this past offseason respectively.
Going after Harrison Barnes would definitely be a statement move by the Celtics because of the impact he could bring with him to this team. Now in his 9th season in the league, Barnes has never really been an All-Star level talent, but he is a terrific complimentary player and has shown the ability to impact the game not just by scoring on the wing, but by aiding in rebounding as well.
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Barnes is averaging a career-high 6.7 rebounds per game this season and could definitely help the Celtics, who currently rank 18th in the league this season in total rebounds per game. The Celtics have not given up on Romeo Langord, as they still have hope that he can be an impactful young player, and they like the contributions Tristan Thompson gives them in the frontcourt, but if they were able to give up these two guys for Harrison Barnes, Boston would execute this trade in a blink of an eye.
With that said, let’s take a closer look at how this trade could impact both teams and why this trade makes sense for both the Boston Celtics and the Sacramento Kings.
