The Sacramento Kings have been making notable under-the-radar moves this offseason and that could continue with the signing of Will Barton.

The Sacramento Kings have been making plenty of shrewd moves throughout the 2023 NBA offseason, drafting notable wing prospects in Colby Jones and Jalen Slawson before adding 3-and-D wing Chris Duarte via trade. In free agency, the Kings have re-signed a rotation piece in Trey Lyles and added to their big man depth with Alex Len.

However, after all of these moves, Sacramento still needs to make one more signing: veteran wing Will Barton.

What Will Barton brings to the Kings

Self-creation

Watching the Sacramento Kings in the 2023 NBA Playoffs, it was hard not to wonder what their offense might look like with just one more on-ball scoring threat. Though the duo of De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk was difficult to stop, averaging a combined 46.4 points per game, the offensive contributions they received from Kevin Huerter (9.1 points per game on 34.7 percent shooting from the field) and Davion Mitchell (7.1 points per game 41.3 percent shooting from the field) were underwhelming.

Enter veteran wing Will Barton, a more-than-capable ball-handler with pure scoring instincts that remains on the free agent market after an underwhelming 2022-23 campaign. Looking past last season, Barton averaged 14.2 points per game while shooting 36.5 percent from 3 from the 2015-26 to 2021-22 season. He averaged 14.8 points per game while shooting 36.7 percent from 3-point range between the 2021 NBA Playoffs and the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

A 6-foot-6 wing that can come off the bench with Mitchell and Monk without the Kings missing a beat, Barton is one of the best overall fits for Sacramento.

Playmaking

While Will Barton's best skill offensively may be the multitude of ways he can get the ball in the basket, the best thing about Barton's offense may be that he isn't focused on just himself. Barton's career assist numbers aren't going to impress many people. However, Barton holding career-highs of 4.1 assists per game in the regular season and 2.8 assists per game in the postseason is better than it sounds when considering that he's primarily a tertiary playmaker throughout his career.

Though the Sacramento Kings have a number of capable facilitators, adding another one never hurts. Especially if Barton was to come off the bench with Davion Mitchell and Malik Monk. Mitchell, though primarily a defensive specialist, does have a knack for playmaking. However, because he's not much of a scoring threat, the Kings would be better served by putting the ball in Barton's hands more. Monk, though averaging a career-high 3.9 assists per game last season, is a score-first guard that plays best alongside another facilitator.

Defense

Will Barton isn't an all-world defender, but he can routinely make his presence felt on that end. That should be good enough for the Sacramento Kings, who will continue giving heavy minutes to a wing in Kevin Huerter that's often been the target of opponent's offensive gameplans. A wing that's also a bit less inconsistent on the defensive end than Malik Monk, Barton could potentially challenge for a starting spot when considering his overall skillset.

If he gives their defense a better chance to hold up than Huerter and gives their offense a more dynamic option than Huerter, why wouldn't he?

A projected starting lineup of De'Aaron Fox, Will Barton, Keegan Murray, Harrison Barnes and Domantas Sabonis is pretty interesting. A bench featuring Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, Chris Duarte, Sasha Vezenkov and Trey Lyles is pretty strong.

Although fan favorite Davion Mitchell becomes the odd man out in this instance with his scoring ability still behind the curve, having him as a situational defender could still give him an important role moving forward.