Do not fear Kevin Durant’s absence, Golden State Warriors fans. Matt Barnes is here to save the day.
According to ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes and Marc Stein, the Warriors plan to sign the 36-year-old Barnes, who was released by the Sacramento Kings following the DeMarcus Cousins trade, as a way of beginning to replace everything they lose in Durant:
A firm injury diagnosis on Kevin Durant is not expected before Wednesday, but the Golden State Warriors have already lined up Matt Barnes as a potential Durant fill-in, the veteran swingman confirmed to ESPN.
Sources told ESPN that the Warriors, in the wake of the hyperextended left knee Durant suffered Tuesday night at Washington, quickly reached out to Barnes and made arrangements to sign him later this week.
Barnes told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that he will sign a rest-of-the-season deal with Golden State, as opposed to a 10-day contract.
Barnes, of course, is no savior. And there will be those who, rightly, question his fit as a volatile personality known for off-court and on-court drama. But the Warriors’ locker room is stable enough to weather anything. Draymond Green isn’t the easiest personality to incorporate, and yet the team is better off with him.
Barnes won’t have a similar effect, and it’s unclear how much he’ll play. Andre Iguodala and even Shaun Livingston should get more spin in Durant’s stead. But, as a stand-in, Barnes makes sense. The Warriors have elite scorers and ball-handlers who can supplant Durant. They need someone who will scrap and claw on the defensive end while hitting wide-open threes. Barnes, even at his age, does all of that; he might even be able to see time as a small-ball 4.
As far as last-second fill-ins go, the Warriors, in terms of basketball fit, couldn’t have done better than this.
