Harrison Barnes comes out smelling like a rose.
When Harrison Barnes left UNC after his sophomore year, he was not unhappy with being a Tar Heel. To the contrary, his two seasons in Chapel Hill gave him the high profile that he said he needed to begin building his personal brand, which is that of a great player, great teammate and non-controversial.
He won an NBA championship in Golden State and came inches within winning another; he was First Team All-Rookie NBA and when he was moved to sixth man his second season he quietly became one of the best subs off the bench. And in 2016, he topped that by averaging just under 12 points and five rebounds as the team’s fourth or fifth scoring option. But Barnes was destined to play in the shadow of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
Now that Kevin Durant has signed with the Warriors, called by critics one of the weakest moves a super star has ever made, Barnes will move to Dallas where the Mavericks will sign him to a max contract of $95 million over four years and where Barnes can emerge from fourth or fifth banana to one of the stars in the league. It’s the best thing Barnes could have done for his personal wealth and his brand, as Golden State cannot match the max offer from the Mavericks since it has to clear cap space for Durant.
Staying with the Warriors might have given Barnes more rings but where and how much would he play with Durant now starting at small forward? So he is moving to Dallas, which will rebuild around Barnes; who already has his championship and can now concentrate on being a more consistent player and striving to become an NBA all-star.
Just as Barnes had a plan at UNC, I imagine he watched the Durant sweepstakes closely and put himself in position to get max money from another team. Dallas came calling and signed the offer sheet. The Warriors could not sign any more big contracts if they were to land Durant, who makes his new team, on paper, the odds-on favorite to win the 2017 NBA title.
That is why Durant is being criticized. He is considered one of the three best players in the world on a team that led Golden State 3-1 in the Western Conference Finals. Instead of staying and trying to get his team over the hump, he went to the rival that he could not beat. That’s much different than leaving a bad team for a contender. Some are calling it cowardice.
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I hope you are not calling cowardice a move by a superstar to not only go after a ring but to be the missing ingredient to a team that now. . Could. .. re-write the record books. Where was the cowardice when James, Bishop teamed up to move to Miami? Where was the cowardice when Shaq went to LA?
An NBA title is tough to get. But to have a team that can get numerous titles and records is what memories are made of. Boston ring a bell? LA? Miami? Cowardice is a stupid thought.
Barnes got SO lucky. Money is another stupid in the NBA. Barnes choked mightily in the last two games. Cuban is not as smart as his money suggests. I’m not sure Barnes can handle that kind of money and the pressure and expectations that will go with it. He ain’t no Dirk and Dirk is making a fraction of what this rising junior had just signed for.