Harrison Barnes officially will return to Sacramento.
The Kings announced Friday that Barnes signed a multiyear agreement to remain with the organization he joined in 2019. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday that it's a three-year deal worth $54 million, and The Athletic's Sam Amick reported the contract includes a 10 percent trade kicker.
After four-and-a-half seasons with the Kings, Barnes was slated to hit unrestricted free agency Friday afternoon, but Sacramento prevented that from happening, locking up a key veteran who helped lead them back to the NBA playoffs last season.
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The 31-year-old forward started all 82 regular-season games last season, averaging 15.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest.
The Kings began the week as one of the NBA teams with the most salary cap space, projected to have just over $35 million in room, per Spotrac's Keith Smith. But the return of Barnes at $18 million per season takes a big chunk out of their budget.
The NBA free agency negotiating window opened at 3 p.m. PT on Friday.
The Kings surprised most NBA pundits last season by securing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and ending their 16-season playoff drought, and Barnes' veteran leadership and steadiness was a big reason why.
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Sacramento was bounced from the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors in a grueling seven-game series, but now the Kings look to build on that success. Even with Barnes back in the fold, they have the ability to add significant pieces to fill out Mike Brown's roster.
Following the Kings' postseason elimination at the beginning of May, Barnes spoke to reporters about the possibility of returning to Sacramento.
“It would be special,” Barnes said in May. “I have equity in Sacramento, just being through a lot of the long seasons. To finally be on the other side of that and to have a collective experience and feel like we were knocking at the door.
" … Obviously, we’ve all been around. We know it’s a business; a lot of things happen. But to continue on with this group, I think that would be a special thing."
Barnes received interest from other teams, but in the end, he will remain a member of the Kings and will try to help the organization reach its ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship.