With Harrison Barnes recently testing positive for COVID-19, the 6-foot-8 swingman is expected to miss the Sacramento Kings' lead up to the season restart on July 30. This has placed the Kings in a significant dilemma, and head coach Luke Walton himself has addressed the issue.
According to Walton, they do not have any intentions of replacing Barnes on their roster:
Walton said Harrison Barnes means so much to the team, they're not going to give his roster spot away if he still wants to play when healthy, even if that means missing a game.
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) July 17, 2020
The best-case scenario here is that Barnes turns in a negative result after a couple of weeks. Once he is cleared, he can immediately join his team in the Disney World bubble.
However, given the current timetable, he might end up missing one or two of Scramento opening contests — at best. A couple of games might not be that significant in a “normal” scenario, but the problem is, the Kings will only be playing eight regular season games in the bubble.
The Kings are currently three-and-a-half games outside of the playoff picture in the West and it is needless to say that every single game will be crucial for the team in terms of their postseason hopes.
Nevertheless, Walton is confident that Barnes will be able to rejoin the team sooner rather than later, and will be able to provide a boost for the Kings once he does.
In his first full season with Sacramento, Barnes has averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists, while also connecting on 1.5 triples on a 38.3-percent clip. He's also logging 34.9 minutes per contest, so even if they wanted to, the Kings will be hard-pressed to find a possible replacement for the 28-year-old.
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