3 potential trades Cavs can make with the Sacramento Kings

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Harrison Barnes, Sacramento Kings. Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images /

Potential Kings Trade 1: Harrison Barnes

The most valuable position in professional basketball remains the forward position, because of its versatility and two-way impact. The Cavs have built a really good team from the outside-in, locking down long-term options at the 1, 4 and 5. They have an offense-first option at the 2 (Collin Sexton) and a defensive-first one (Isaac Okoro). They don’t have a 3.

Lauri Markkanen has started and played well at the 3, and both Dylan Windler and Lamar Stevens bring something to the table there. Dean Wade is outside the rotation but has proven himself. Yet all of these players are best deployed somewhere else — Windler at the 2, Markkanen, Stevens and Wade at the 4. None bring offensive elevation and can mark big scoring wings — players such as Kevin Durant, Khris Middleton, DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler who the Cavs will need to stop come the playoffs.

Enter Harrison Barnes, a combo forward having the best offensive season of his career. He is scoring an efficient 16.6 points per game on 11.2 shots per game, including a career-best 41.8 percent from 3-point range. He is also averaging 5.1 free-throw attempts per game, by far a career-high. He is on pace to blow through his career bests in cumulative on/off metrics like VORP (Value Over Replacement Player).

Ricky Rubio will serve as the foundation of many potential Cleveland trades; he is an unrestricted free agent who will be out not only the rest of this season but for the start of next; his salary ($17.8 million) is large enough to match a significant amount coming back. The Kings may still want to compete for the play-in this season, but getting two first-round picks (neither likely in the lottery) should grease the wheels for a move.

Barnes would slot in as the starting 3, moving Markannen into a bench role. He can take on those difficult defensive assignments on the wing, and the 2-5 lineup of Okoro, Barnes, Mobley and Allen would presumably be the toughest grouping in basketball. On offense he can take some shot creation duties and shouldn’t hurt the spacing over what Markkanen provided in that area. At 29 years old he should still have multiple years of his prime remaining.