Harrison Barnes is about to get two-syllable paid. That’s a fact. We’re just waiting to see whether it’ll be the Golden State Warriors who are footing the bill for his next contract.
Since Barnes will be a restricted free agent this July, the Warriors have the right to match any offer he receives. But “offer” is a generalized, ambiguous term. We needn’t try different means of forecasting Barnes’ value. That implies that his market value is up for debate, when, really, it’s not.
He will be getting a max deal from some suitor.
Per the Sporting News’ Sean Deveney:
But there has been blow-back against that notion, according to sources within the organization, especially if the Warriors win another title. Several teams with significant cap space this summer — the Celtics, Lakers, Suns, Mavericks among them — have the intention of pursuing Barnes, especially as a fallback option for Durant. Barnes is expected to receive and offer of at least $20 million per year or perhaps as much as a max offer starting at about $23 million.
If the Warriors intend on keeping Barnes, then, they must be prepared to pay him max money. And, more likely than not, they will. There is only one reason, after all, for them to second guess Barnes’ value.
That reason’s name is Kevin Durant.
If Durant really wants to play for the Warriors, that’s when you start to consider breaking up this bad. Otherwise, you keep it together, at all cost, attempting to ride out the title window. And the Warriors will have some flexibility next summer, when Andrew Bogut, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, assuming they guarantee his salary for 2016-17, enter free agency. It won’t be as much as they can carve out now, but re-signing Barnes won’t consign them to unthinkable luxury-tax levels. Not for now at least.
Now, if Barnes indicates a desire to go elsewhere and be a featured option, rather than remain Golden State’s fourth option, that’s a different situation entirely. The Warriors could decide to let him go or work out a sign-and-trade so that they don’t lose him for nothing.
In a vacuum, though, assuming Barnes wants to return and Durant stays in Oklahoma City, there isn’t a price the Warriors shouldn’t be willing to pay for is services, so long as it keeps this championship nucleus intact.
