NBA: 5 teams that vastly improved at the trade deadline

Sacramento Kings

Additions: Harrison Barnes, Caleb Swanigan

Perhaps you didn’t expect to see a team like the Sacramento Kings on this list, but this is a team that certainly got better at the NBA Trade Deadline by adding Harrison Barnes, who at the small forward fills a huge hole that this team has had for the majority of the year.

The Kings are tied for the 8th seed in the Western Conference standings, and would qualify for the playoffs should the season end today. However, if they are going to make a real push for the playoffs during the second half of the season, they’re going to have to hold off the Los Angeles Lakers.

And even though the Lakers didn’t make a big move at the NBA’s Trade Deadline, LeBron James has made his way back into the lineup and you can bet that they’re going to make a real move up the standings before the regular season is over and done with.

The addition of Barnes should help the Kings either way. But even if they don’t qualify for the playoffs this season, the future is bright in Sacramento. And there’s a very real chance that Barnes is a part of that.