Mavs’ Harrison Barnes Traded to the Kings

Harrison Barnes with USA Basketball. Photo by Fernando Soutello/Agif/REX/Shutterstock

After acquiring All-Star center Kristaps Porzingis last week, Dallas Mavericks continued to be active on the trade market. Mavs now decided to send forward Harrison Barnes to Sacramento Kings in exchange for Justin Jackson, 15th overall pick in 2017, and veteran Zach Randolph.

The trade was executed on Wednesday night, with Barnes finding out about it three quarters into the Mavs’ game against the Charlotte Hornets. The 26-year-old ended up sitting out the fourth quarter on the bench, and then left the arena without talking with the media.

Barnes, however, ended up issuing a statement on his official social media, thanking the Mavs’ organization, owner Mark Cuban, coach Rick Carlisle, his former teammate and the fans of the team.

Cuban later retweeted Barnes’ post, writing: “You have been first class on the court and off. Your voice and actions in the community have made a difference.”

Coach Carlisle also talked about Harrison Barnes and the trade with reporters after the Hornets’ game, saying that he was a “model professional and a great example.”

“I am going to miss him an awful lot,” – Carlisle added. “We’ll miss him an awful lot, but I believe he’s going to have a great situation where he’s going and we’ll just go forward from here.”

Barnes played a total of 49 games with Dallas this season, averaging 17.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.

After dealing Harrison Barnes, Dallas Mavericks will now have enough cap space to pursue a trade before the trade deadline and to be aggressive in their pursuit for free agents in the summer. Sacramento Kings, on the other side, intends to negotiate a contract extension with Barnes and plug him in into their young core which has the potential of developing into a playoff team in the next years.

Harley loves music and tries to go to a music festival every summer. When he's not listening to music, he writes about movies, food and wine, art, and sport.