Pass or pursue on Rockets' 8 biggest trade targets
7. Harrison Barnes- pass
According to longtime NBA insider Marc Stein, the Rockets are interested in Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes, which is a bit of a head-scratcher. Barnes is averaging 11.1 points on 47.6 percent from the field, 39.9 percent from three, and 62.5 percent true shooting.
On the surface, this seems great. The Rockets could use long-range shooting, right?
Well, not at Barnes' price tag, which is $37 million over the next two years. That's simply bad business.
Barnes isn't a stellar defender, which is the identity of the 2023-24 team, or at least it was supposed to be. Furthermore, Barnes isn't capable of creating his own offense.
And these days he doesn't provide much of anything when he's not scoring (2.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists), which is exactly the type of player the Rockets should avoid giving long-term salary to and sacrificing assets for. Especially considering the Kings' reported asking price.