Golden State Warriors: Does Harrison Barnes Stay Or Go?
Harrison Barnes is a key component to the Golden State Warriors’ success. A free agent this summer, the Warriors are prepared to offer Barnes the money he wants. Will he stay? Or will he leave to become a more featured player?
The Golden State Warriors are on the brink of winning back-to-back championships as early as Monday and in most cases, teams that win the league crown have a difficult time of keeping rosters together.
Then again, there haven’t been as many well-run organizations as Golden State’s front office.
After winning the title last season, the Warriors returned 12 players for the 2015-16 season and their chemistry and cohesiveness on and off the court only continue to improve.
This summer, there will be a number of tough decisions they will have to make when it comes to re-signing players in order to keep this potential dynasty together. One of those tough decisions will be with small forward Harrison Barnes.
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Prior to this season, Barnes took a huge gamble on himself by declining a four-year, $64 million offer from the Warriors. His plan was to have a big season in order to put himself in position to take advantage of the huge cap spike.
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His gamble paid off and he has inserted his name into the conversation of being a max player.
The decision that Barnes will now be faced with is whether he wants to become one of the featured players within an offense by signing with a different team, or continue to chase championships with the Warriors, who look like they will continue to wreak havoc on the league.
Barnes has always given the vibe that he believes he could be a more featured player within a team’s offense. Not necessarily meaning that he would be the No. 1 option, but certainly at least the second or third.
Teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, and Dallas Mavericks have been common names thrown around with potential destinations for Barnes.
Saturday, it was reported by Sean Deveney of Sporting News that the Warriors are willing to offer Barnes a contract where he will earn at least $20 million per year. If that isn’t enough to convince Barnes to stay, then it will show that being a featured player is more important than winning titles.
He has earned his right to explore free agency and meet with other teams. Barnes’ play especially in the Finals has been crucial to the Warriors success.
His most memorable performance came at the beginning of Game 4 as he scored eight of the Warriors’ first 10 points to prevent them to having another lethargic first-quarter performance such as the one that put them behind the 8 ball in Game 3.
More relevant now than ever: Harrison Barnes' versatility and ability to hit the 3 is much more valuable than his stat line usually shows.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) June 11, 2016
His statistics at the end of games, or for the season for that matter, will not scream max player, but it’s his fit and the impact he has on this specific team that is critical to their championship success.
There’s another franchise that paved the road that the Warriors are headed down: the San Antonio Spurs. They are often used as the blueprint to create a successful franchise for any professional sport. Luckily for Warriors fans, Barnes isn’t blind to that fact.
"“This could be my last time getting here,” Barnes said, “regardless if I stayed or left, so I just want to really enjoy this moment and give it all I have. You don’t know. You look at the Spurs, they have guys who could have left multiple times, guys who could have commanded a lot more money, and almost 20 years later, five championships later, here are those guys still there.”"
Not only will Golden State pay him what he wants to stay, he will also have the opportunity to add to his championship collection in the process. At the end of the day, Barnes will have to decide what more important between more rings or more shots.
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The answer seems pretty obvious.