Harrison Barnes, a nine-year NBA veteran who experienced the joy of winning a championship and the hardship of being on lottery teams, had a look of exasperation when he took the stage for his postgame news conference at Golden 1 Center on Tuesday. The Sacramento Kings had just been pummeled by the Minnesota Timberwolves, 134-114.
It was a long day for the entire organization.
Hours before the game, the team made a blockbuster trade sending guard Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson to the Indiana Pacers for a package including two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis.
It was a landmark day and an exhausting one. It was the type of trade that could define the tenure of second-year general manager Monte McNair and the next era of Kings basketball. Barnes called the deal "surprising," which matches the fallout from the rest of the NBA.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said on television Tuesday: "The league is stunned at this trade, the fact (Haliburton) was even available. ... A lot of teams' reaction was, 'If we knew we could get Haliburton, we'd have been knocking at the door in Sacramento.' Everyone thought, including Haliburton, that he'd be the cornerstone for their future."
Said guard De'Aaron Fox: "Everyone was shocked for sure."
Back to Barnes, one of the few accomplished and level-headed figures in a Kings organization that already fired head coach Luke Walton in November. Barnes was asked how this trade could change the trajectory of the season, the team's expectations and goals that seem crystallized now that a second-year player in Haliburton was exchanged for Sabonis and two swing men, Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb.
"From my vantage point, it's less about developing and more about where we're at (now)," Barnes said. "You don't bring in a guy the caliber of Sabonis, you don't bring in veteran wings, like Jeremy Lamb and Justin Holiday, to grow and develop the next two or three years. This kind of pushes things forward."
Barnes also joked that it will be nice for Sacramento to have more than just two wing players, which they've been operating with for the majority of the season to due injuries, COVID-19 and the construction of their roster.
But the bigger point here is the Kings moved even more chips to the middle of the table to try and reach the play-in tournament. This is no longer about developing for the long haul, as Barnes said.
It's about winning now for Sacramento, and the Sabonis trade at least unclogs the team's issue it had with too many point guards that didn't quite fit with each other.
After losing to Minnesota on Tuesday, Sacramento fell to 20-36. But the Kings are just three games behind the New Orleans Pelicans for the No. 10 spot in the Western Conference, where they would have to win two games in the play-in tournament to earn a postseason berth if they finish in the No. 9 or 10 spots.
That's still the goal, even at 16 games under .500 with 26 games remaining on the schedule. Thanks to the play-in tournament, a team with a .357 winning percentage near the All-Star break can still have postseason aspirations.
"I think the thing that we're trying to do is that we keep holding on to the fact that we can still can control our destiny, and that's to be a playoff team, get in a playoff game or something like that," interim coach Alvin Gentry said.
"As I said to the guys today, those options are running out, we have very little wiggle room or whatever you want to call it. We're going to have to put together some wins if that's going to be the case because the people above us are starting to play much better basketball."
Indeed, the Pelicans have won four straight games and just added one of the NBA's better scoring guards in C.J. McCollum in a trade also made Tuesday. The Lakers, sitting in the No. 9 spot, have Anthony Davis back healthy and will remain formidable as long as LeBron James is still in uniform.
Therein lies the source of Barnes' apparent exasperation. He saw three teammates go to Indiana for the sake of trying to get into the play-in tournament when one, Haliburton, had potential to be an organizational building block the Kings have lacked for years. That lack of young talent has played a significant role in their miserable 15-year playoff drought.
"I don't think we anticipated it happening the way it was going to happen," Barnes said. "For veteran guys, you're aware of it, you're exposed to it, you've been through it. But I think like a young guy, who is really just starting to turn that corner, we were all starting to see what his potential was, it was surprising."
Haliburton was in the midst of a strong second NBA season. He's one of two players to average 13.0 points and 5.0 assists while shooting 40% from 3-point range during his first two years. The other is Stephen Curry. In 12 games without Fox this season, Haliburton, 21, averaged 19.2 points and 10.0 assists. And he was on an affordable rookie contract, while Fox is set to cost between $30 and $38 million over the next four seasons.
But now the Kings have hitched their wagon to the Fox and Sabonis pairing, which has promise, to be sure. The shocking part of this trade is not about Sabonis, who is a potentially great player and the best player, right now, in this trade. The shocking aspect is the team punted on the long-term promise of Haliburton for a chance to slap together a run at the play-in tournament, which more than likely would lead to an early playoff exit under even the best-case scenario.
"Just as a competitor, you always want to win. That's just first and foremost," Barnes said of the balance between winning now versus developing for the future. "The opportunity to hopefully capitalize on that while we have a lot of guys who have experience is big.
"But I think at the same time, as a veteran, you realize that every young guy that comes in, you're a part of their entree point into the NBA. How they go, however successful they become, or unsuccessful, you played a part in that. And as a vet, it was a proud moment just to see Tyrese really turn that corner, come into his own and really getting established in this league. And I know that he'll have a lot of success from here on out. But obviously, you always want to be a part of that as long as possible."
Kings fans likely feel the same way, which could only get worse if Haliburton thrives in Indiana and turns into the star he's shown he can become.
In the meantime, the pressure shifts Fox, Sabonis and McNair to prove this wasn't another disastrous Kings decision.
