Spurs receive Harrison Barnes in three-team trade

The San Antonio Spurs are adding another veteran and leader to the team. In an effort to facilitate the trade of former Spurs player DeMar DeRozan from the Chicago Bulls to the Sacramento Kings, the Spurs will receive veteran forward Harrison Barnes and an unprotected pick swap with the Kings in 2031, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (who initially tweeted 2032 but corrected it shortly after).

In exchange, the Bulls will receive Chris Duarte, two second-round picks and cash considerations. It remains to be seen what, if anything, the Spurs will give up in this trade beyond absorbing salary cap space.

Barnes will enter his 13th NBA season next season, but he’s a steely guy, having played 82 games in each of the last two seasons and averaging 12.2 points and three rebounds for the Kings, shooting 47.4 percent overall and 38.7 percent from three-point range on 4.7 attempts per game. He won a championship with the Warriors in 2015 and joins Chris Paul as another veteran with leadership qualities to help guide the Victor Wembanyama-led Spurs. At this point, it’s hard not to see the Spurs making pretty decent progress from just 22 wins last season. (Another reason: Have you seen Wembanyama in France recently?)

Barnes’ acquisition comes hours after the Spurs traded Devonte Graham, likely in an effort to free up a roster spot and free up their salary cap for that specific move. Barnes has two years and $37 million remaining on his contract, which will eat up the rest of the Spurs’ salary cap, and they’ll likely have to give up any remaining salary cap hitters like Cedi Osman, Charles Bassey, and Julian Champagnie, though that doesn’t mean they can’t bring any of them back. Once all the dust settles, they should still have the Room Exception and the 2nd Room Exception to work with.

We’ll tell you more about what this move means for the Spurs soon, but in the meantime, welcome to San Antonio, Harrison! He always seemed like the Spurs guy.