The future of Harrison Barnes has been a lingering question around the Golden State Warriors, with the forward poised to become a restricted free agent.
According to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News, the Warriors intend to match any offer sheet that comes Barnes’s way, and the only way he will not be on the team next season is if he requests to leave.
Deveney cites the Celtics, Lakers, Suns, and Mavericks as teams that could launch a pursuit of Barnes, and the forward may get an offer in excess of $20 million per year. Golden State, however, fully intends to keep the team together, particularly if they finish off Cleveland to win a second consecutive championship.
The Warriors would reportedly honor a request to let Barnes go and become a more prominent player in someone else’s system, possibly in some sort of sign-and-trade. He is, after all, the fourth or fifth name you might think of when you run down the Warriors roster. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are the leading players, Draymond Green has become a star, and even Andre Iguodala gets a lot of publicity for his work on the defensive side. Barnes, though, has been extremely consistent during the NBA Finals when his team has needed it most, with Curry, Thompson, and Green all going through varying stretches of ineffectiveness.
Deveney also notes that “there has been blow-back” within the organization over all the Kevin Durant rumors, with the team apparently willing to spend money on keeping its winning core together.
Perhaps the Warriors heard what their players thought of a potential Durant pursuit and what it would do to the locker room chemistry. Either way, it seems that the Warriors are intent on keeping their team together, and that includes keeping Barnes around if he is willing to stay – and even if it means ruling out a run at Durant.
