Harrison Barnes: How Former UNC Star Would Fit with Sacramento Kings

Harrison Barnes is one of the most intriguing prospects in the 2012 NBA draft.

The former University of North Carolina small forward can put the ball in the hoop from anywhere past the half-court line, but criticisms have come about that he can't do much else.

ESPN's Chad Ford currently has Barnes going to the Sacramento Kings at No. 5 in his most recent mock draft. Nobody knows if that will happen for sure, but we will play around with that idea.

The Kings are hard to evaluate. They can score and hit the boards, but they have a problem playing defense. It's even tougher to straighten the situation out now that Tyreke Evans is constantly being mentioned in trade talks, but nothing is for sure yet.

The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Barnes to the Kings is the wealth of youth that Keith Smart will have to work with.

DeMarcus Cousins is 21, Tyreke Evans is 22, Isaiah Thomas is 23 and Marcus Thornton is 25. Adding Barnes, 20, would add another player to the already budding stars.

If Barnes goes to the Kings, there would be some interesting lineup changes in Sacramento. It would make the most sense this way: Thomas at the point, Evans at the 2, Barnes at 3, Jason Thompson at the 4 and Cousins at center.

I like Thornton coming off the bench as a James Harden type of substitution who gets starters' minutes. The guy that doesn't fit in with that lineup is Thompson, and Thornton would allow the Kings to go small by coming off the bench, but not too small that it hurts them on the glass.

Actually, it's one of the biggest small lineups that we would see, if that makes sense. Thomas is only 5'9", but the four other guys make up for his height. Evans is 6'6", Barnes is 6'8", Thornton is 6'4" and Cousins is 6'11".

With Cousins as the focal point of the lineup, we could see an offense similar to that of Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. The only difference is that the Kings would have more versatility on the perimeter. 

Barnes would give the Kings a perimeter sharpshooter with a mid-range game to make up for Evans' lack of outside shooting. His step-back jumper is murder, but he has a problem creating for himself off the dribble. That's where the "Howard offense" would work to the Kings advantage.

Picture this: Cousins gets the ball in the low-post. If he likes what he has, he takes his man one-on-one for an easy two. If the lane is clogged and he sees that he doesn't have much, he kicks it out to one of the four guys on the perimeter.

Say he kicks it out to Evans. Evans knows his ability to drive is much better than his jump shot, so he penetrates and kicks it back out to Barnes on the wing. Barnes spots up for an open three or dumps it into Cousins with the defense in disarray, starting the process all over again.

I know I just drew up an imaginary play, and I know that everything has to go perfectly for that to work, but ball movement and spacing are the keys to a seamless offense. Drafting Barnes at No. 5 would lead the Kings to that end.

Not only can Barnes score, but he can play defense as well. His height, reach (8'6") and wingspan (6'11") will allow him to guard different types of players in the NBA. He's not ridiculously quick, so he will have a problem guarding faster, smaller 2 guards, but will be able to guard the 6'6", 6'7" shooting guards of the league.

The Sacramento Kings need more than one player, they need to change the entire culture of the franchise. Barnes has the reputation of a humble, hardworking player, which will help bring in a new era of Kings basketball.

If Barnes winds up in Sacramento, the only thing the Kings will need to do is convince DeMarcus Cousins to play defense.