Boston Celtics: 3 ideal trade targets to address C’s biggest needs
By Mark Nilon
“Quantity-plus-quality shooting” for the Boston Celtics: Harrison Barnes
For the past several years it has seemed as though the Boston Celtics have been linked as being a viable landing spot for Harrison Barnes should he find himself being shopped by the Kings and, according to Matt Moore of Action Network, it is believed that Sacramento will indeed place the veteran forward on the market this trade season.
Should this actually prove to be the case, Brad Stevens should absolutely consider pursuing the 29-year-old for he’d be a massive boost for the team’s need for another quality shooter, particularly one that can thrive down at the four.
In the midst of arguably his best season in the league, Barnes is posting stellar per-game averages of 16.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists on 45 percent shooting from the floor and 43 percent shooting from deep on five attempts.
On top of this, he is also finding himself converting on 47 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and boasts a 70.3 percent effective field goal percentage on catch-and-shoot attempts overall, both of which would absolutely come in handy within Boston’s scheme that ranks within the top-10 in hoisting up such shots, yet rank in the bottom-10 when it comes to actually converting on them.
Bringing aboard the 10-year-veteran would provide the Celtics quite a number of benefits, most notably championship experience (won 2015 title as a starter with the Golden State Warriors) and a proper way to end the dreadful double-big experiment in the frontcourt, as Ime Udoka would presumably slot him into the starting lineup at power forward thus immediately bettering their overall offensive potential.
Already proving capable of thriving in a rotation alongside others who demand a high/ higher volume of touches (De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield), it’s safe to say that Harrison Barnes would likely still remain equally as effective and efficient if found suiting up next to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in Boston as well which could wind up being a true game-changer for this team moving forward.