Matt Barnes is all about fostering team chemistry: The pressure won’t be on Matt Barnes with the Kings this year to put the ball in the basket all that much, or to rip it off the boards, or to zing it around the perimeter, or even to keep the other team’s guys from doing all those things with it. Oh, Barnes can still score, rebound, pass and defend. You don’t survive for 13 years at the game’s highest level if you don’t have talent and toughness. And nobody signs you to a new, two-year deal at age 36, as the Kings did with Barnes, if you can’t play. It’s just that Barnes brings a value to the Kings that goes way beyond the stat sheet. -- The Sacramento Bee

Five areas Kings coach Joerger must address before season opens: For the third consecutive year, the Kings will open training camp with a new coach. It’s Dave Joerger’s turn to see if he can do what George Karl and Michael Malone did not, which is last long enough to change a culture marked by losing and dysfunction. Again, the offseason was spent retooling a roster that failed to meet the front office’s expectations. -- The Sacramento Bee