This should be Harrison Barnes theme song. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2_JTzEppKy8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Don't get the league's fascination with this guy. Not much of a 1-1 shot creator,not much of a passer, not much of an attacker toward the basket. Ok he'll hit spot up 3s. He's the 3rd option to defend LeBron behind Iggy, Green. What makes any GM think he can show up to a team be a player that provides max level production? Guy has underachieved since leaving HS.
Sometimes people need to be all alone to achieve their potential, Nash and Dirk really only elevated their games when they separated. Same thing with Harden, he wasn't this good back in OKC.
Iggy is a former allstar and one of the best 2 way players in the league lol. I think you're underselling Barnes. He's actually a very good ball handler, decent defender, and can beat anybody off the dribble at the 4. In a Mike D'Antoni offense, I can see Barnes giving us 15-17pts with real minutes.
Statistically... I actually think Barnes would WRECK in a proper D'Antoni offense. Does that equate to winning basketball? I highly doubt it.
Umm, he plays in one now, he doesn't exactly wreck. Even given more touches - he'd probably score 16-18 points. That's really not "wreck" for a max salary
Nash and Dirk were both ELITE shooters. Not just good, elite, among the best to have ever played the game and very good to elite passers. Nash has now been eclipsed by Curry but he was the proto-curry - he's a 49-40-90....for his whole career. What elite skills does Barnes possess that need to be liberated ? Arguably nothing. He's adequate to good in most areas. But not so good that the guy you replace him with isn't much of a drop off in any of them. That's his problem...he's ok at everything, he looks the part of an NBA superstar (a la Rudy Gay)...he's just not one.
I agree a change of scenery helps guys reach their potential, but only if that person displays true great abilities in that limited role. You bring up Harden, but Harden always looked like an elite offensive player in his OKC role, despite his limited minutes. Great pick and role player. Great shooter. Great playmaker. Barnes isn't that guy. He's been average at best with a great level of inconsistency, and honestly that's pretty underwhelming when he's apart of one of the best teams ever. Seems like a more athletic 3-D Trevor Ariza kinda guy at most.
And yet even such a player can afford with the new cap money to turn up his nose at $16,000,000 a season. Gonna be a wild off-season.
You can't judge statistics of a player who's basically playing his role one of the best teams in NBA history What we're talking about is pure skillset. Harrison Barnes has the skillset to be special. He's not a player known to hold the ball, so why exactly would he ruin a D'antoni offense again? If we signed him he'd be by FAR the best PF we currently have
Make a great offer to Barnes, hope Warriors don't match, let him score 20 per game with D'Antoni offense and trade him with D.Mo next year for George when he asks out :grin:
Haahaha, so he's elite at not holding the ball? That is about the best thing we can say about Harrison Barnes? Back up the Brinks Truck for this guy then. Hey also back it up for ME. I wouldn't hold hte ball if they passed it to me - for 20 million bucks I would get it the hell away from me. Seriously, that is the most unintentionally funny thing I've read here in awhile. Good stuff.
Skillset is exactly why Barnes isn't a max player. His handles aren't very good for a SF. He doesn't shoot well off the dribble. He doesn't create for other players and has never demonstrated great floor vision. On the other hand, his defense is decent and he's a good spot up shooter from long range. Harrison Barnes is an elite version of Trevor Ariza but he's heavier and more of a SF/PF (instead of a SF/SG like Ariza). In crunch time against tough defenses, you can't give either guy the ball and count on them to make something happen. If Barnes had shown more growth during his career like Draymond Green, I'd be open-minded. But he just isn't who you think he is.
I have to agree. Barnes reminds me a little bit of Ariza when we first got him. Doing great as a role player on a contender, nowhere near good enough to be more than a 4th or 5th best player. Not particularly good at anything at all except maybe conforming to his role perfectly. I think he's probably worth the max to a contender in a small market, but most likely whoever signs him will be very unhappy. Also, the Warriors are idiots if they don't match whatever offer he gets. That's the only place he's worth the max - the place where nothing needs to be tinkered with to win championships.
Parsons gave us 17ppg, with the ability to actually pass and create offense for his teammates. Doesn't make him worthy of $20+ million. Hell, Parsons didn't even earn his current contract. I agree with you, though, Barnes can give you 15-17ppg in starter minutes. Unfortunately, he gives you nothing else. Forgive us for not being excited about that potential.
20M is the new 10M in the current CBA, before Parsons wasn't worth 20M because Harden was only making 15M. Now Harden can make 30-40M so Parsons and Barnes making 20M is ok.
It's not "ok" so much as "soembody has to get the max moeny that true superstars would be paid but for the fact that there's a max limit" - that somebody is now Harrison Barnes, but the team that gives it to him is probably going to regret it.
This is the most frustrating part of talking to the pro-Barnes crowd. They'll make these comments about skillset, having all the tools, superstar potential, etc yet when you press them to go into detail or explain what specifically they're referring to they never answer.
seems overhyped to me as well. A better Ariza or Parsons... definitely not worth max type money. He's not even close to Joe Johnson level
