Sacramento Kings Receive: F Kyle Kuzma
Los Angeles Lakers Receive: F Harrison Barnes
There’s a chance that both sides would want to keep it simple in a trade involving Kuzma. Los Angeles doesn’t have much draft capital to offer, but Sacramento has a few players that could be of interest to the Lakers. The first offer that comes to mind is a simple swap of Kuzma for Harrison Barnes.
The Kings don’t have much of a plan right now, as De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton are their building blocks for the future. With that in mind, a player like Barnes could be made available this offseason, and contending teams could express interest in his services.
For the Lakers, being able to flip Kuzma for Barnes would fit their ideological thinking of trying to win now instead of beginning to build for the future. Barnes is a versatile forward that can play multiple positions, and he’s a capable scorer that would fit well alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Even though he isn’t the same athlete he was with the Golden State Warriors earlier in his career, Barnes is a career 37.7 percent shooter from outside, and he averaged a modest 16.1 points per game in 2020-21.
READ MORE: NBA Rumors: Thunder, Kings are teams to watch to trade for Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma
As for the Kings, Kuzma allows them to get even younger, and gives them a player that could develop into a prominent starter for the future.
