Kings projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
Sacramento Kings starting small forward: Harrison Barnes
Harrison Barnes is one of the longest-tenured Kings and every single game he started. Last season Barnes played in all 82 games and averaged 15 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists on 47/37/84 splits.
Barnes is a very important piece to this team. The first being he is the oldest and most experienced player on the team. The Kings are a young team, and every young team needs an experienced veteran. Barnes was a part of the 2015 Championship Warriors and 73-9 Warriors so his experience is crucial.
Also, Barnes is an inefficient offensive player. Shooting 37 percent from three gives him a key role in the starting lineup. He provides extra floor spacing for De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis and is able to hit big shots in big moments. He isn’t your typical role player but is still very good to be your third and fourth option.
Kings primary backup small forward: Chris Duarte
Chris Duarte was traded to the Kings for two second round picks and they got an absolute steal. Last season Duarte averaged 7.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists on 37/32/85 splits. He had a down year from his rookie season but Duarte was dealing with injury and saw a reduction in his minutes.
With the Kings Duarte should have a chance to start over and revitalize. Duarte has shown that he has potential he can be a very good player in this league and playing under Mike Brown he should go back to how he played his first season in the league.
Mike Brown’s coaching has allowed so many different players to have their best season of their careers and should be able to figure out a way for Chris Duarte to be an effective piece for this team. If Duarte is given the opportunity to play he will turn around and make the Kings bench all that much better and a much more dangerous team.
Others who could receive minutes: Kessler Edwards and Kegan Murray
Kessler Edwards has been in the league for two seasons and got his opportunity with the Kings when he was traded from the Nets. In the 22 games he played in for the Kings, he averaged 3.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists on 44/35/77 splits. It was the best stretch of his career. The addition of Chris Duarte puts Kessler Edwards out of the rotation but because of Duarte’s injury history, Edwards can get key playing time.