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5 Players With The Most To Prove In 2016-17

By Carter Johnson

Nov 5, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) dribble the ball around Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half at the United Center. The Bulls won 104-98. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 5, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) dribble the ball around Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half at the United Center. The Bulls won 104-98. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports /
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Golden State Warriors
May 5, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes (40) looks on during the third quarter in game two of the second round of the NBA Playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies at Oracle Arena. The Grizzlies defeated the Warriors 97-90. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Harrison Barnes

The last memory fans have of Harrison Barnes was his final performance as a member of the world-beating, record-breaking Golden State Warriors — and it wasn’t a good one.

In the 2016 Finals Barnes was an absolute non-factor, averaging 9.3 points a game while shooting an awful 35 percent from the field and making only nine of his 29 three point attempts for the series.

His flagrant misses on wide open shots from deep were one of the many reasons the Warriors became the first team to blow a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals and lost out on the opportunity to top off a 73-9 season with a championship like most expected they would.

Following that awful display, it was all but common knowledge that Barnes would likely be done in the Bay and that sentiment came to fruition when the Warriors replaced him with 2014 MVP and four-time scoring champ Kevin Durant, making him the first of many players to be exiled from the team to make room for the perennial All-Star.

It was quite the slight towards a player who was one of the building blocks of the current squad and he still hasn’t fully gotten over it, as evidenced by his comments to The Undefeated’s Marc Spears about being forced out and this epic walk-out in his first trip to the Oracle Arena as an ex-Warrior.

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But now it’s on to Dallas for the player they call the Black Falcon and with a new team comes some new responsibilities.

No longer will he just be a 3-and-D player and occasional fourth scoring option; owner Mark Cuban has made it fully clear that they expect Barnes to become their go-to guy outside of Dirk Nowitzki and develop into a future cornerstone of the franchise.

However, with an obvious lack of production and/or flash of any such potential in the Golden State, it’s hard for fans to believe that Barnes is up to the challenge.

With an increase in both salary (a whopping four-year, $94 million deal to be exact) and opportunity, expectations are heavy on Barnes to deliver and he will have to prove that he is capable of being the star that many believed him to be in his days at the University of North Carolina.

It will be up to him to shake off the bad taste of the 2016 Finals and blossom into the player Mark Cuban and company believe he can be.

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