The Sacramento Kings were arguably the biggest and most welcome surprise in the NBA last season. They made their first playoff appearance since 2006, which snapped the longest active playoff drought in the NBA at the time. The Kings went 48-34 off the heels of an offense that was the best in the NBA a year ago.

Perhaps even better than that for Kings fans is the approach the organization took this offseason: stability. Patience. The two things that alluded this franchise for years are finally being implemented. The main moves the Kings made this offseason were bringing back their core, including giving Domantas Sabonis an extension and re-signing Harrison Barnes, Trey Lyles, and Alex Len.

That isn't to say the Kings didn't make any additions, however. They acquired Chris Duarte in a trade with the Indiana Pacers for a couple of second-round picks. They used their second-round picks in the 2023 NBA Draft to select Xavier's Colby Jones and Furman's Jalen Slawson. They made a couple of minor signings in free agency as well by acquiring JaVale McGee after he was waived by the Dallas Mavericks and using most of their midlevel exception on European star Sasha Vezenkov.

The Kings look like they're going to keep the boat steady. But opportunities to improve present themselves all the time in the NBA and the Kings should listen. But who would likely be the subject of those hypothetical yet possible talks? One player in particular sticks out.

Harrison Barnes

If there's anybody on the Kings that could get dealt, Harrison Barnes seems the most likely for a couple of reasons. For one, his contract. Barnes was retained on a three-year pact for $54 million. Not only is the contract not very lengthy, but the yearly cap hit isn't very large. But it is also large enough to connect with other players' contracts on the team if the team yearns to acquire a star available on the trade market or seeks a valuable role player elsewhere. Barnes' $18 million salary this season is the third-highest on the team behind only De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis. Those guys aren't going anywhere any time soon. So if they're looking for upgrades, Barnes' salary number surely will come up.

Another is that Harrison Barnes really struggled in the playoffs last season. In their seven-game series against the Golden State Warriors, Barnes posted an effective field goal percentage of 46.7 percent. That's bad and is largely due to him shooting 24 percent from three during the series. The reason why Barnes could potentially be shipped is that the Kings have options on their roster now who could play over Barnes. The primary of those options is Keegan Murray, who already showed he belonged on an NBA roster when he was named to the first-team All-Rookie team at the end of the season and set a record for the most threes made by a rookie with 206.

Murray looked ready for another step during Summer League where he flashed he can handle and create with the ball in his hands, a role he didn't get the chance to do much of last season.

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Trey Lyles was one of Sacramento's better players last season, too. He routinely made big shots each night for the Kings and can slide up or down just about any spot defensively. The addition of Sasha Vezenkov should not be overlooked either. Vezenkov is a 6-9 225 pound tweener wing that can really shoot it. He's a career 39.5 percent shooter from deep while shooting over five threes per-36 minutes for his career. He can really play.

Conclusion

Harrison Barnes has been a valuable figure in the Kings' renaissance as a veteran mentor who can also hold his own as a three-and-d starter and punish mismatches on the block. But the team could do better. If the opportunity presents itself, the Kings shouldn't hang up the phone on a potential deal that would include Barnes. And they should always look and listen to opportunities to make their team better.