Harrison Barnes and the New Orleans Pelicans

[jackwindham]

At one point last summer, the New Orleans Pelicans reportedly had strong interest in signing Harrison Barnes as a free agent. Management was going to use all of their available cap space to provide Anthony Davis with a front court sidekick. However, the Pelicans instead opted to use that money to sign Solomon Hill, Tim Frazier, E'Twaun Moore, Langston Galloway, etc.

Do you think that was the better move? Would Barnes have been much help to Davis?

[NetsDynasty2012]

I'd definitely rather have Barnes than that trash heap of players

[Chuck Everett]

Better for Barnes in Dallas. Rick Carlisle is a better coach than Gentry.

[Jsmoke]

I thought it would have been a good idea for us as it would have allowed Gentry to run a line up with Barnes at the 4 and Davis at the 5 which would have been a good frontline for a small ball line up.

However, with Davis not being the defender that Draymond is, this probably wouldn't have worked out well defensively like it did in Golden State, but its offensive potential would have been fun to watch.

[Saints14]

Saw this in Lowe's article and yeah, that would have been a solid move. Barnes would fare better as a secondary scorer, and Davis/Barnes would have made a nice small ball frontcourt. Holiday/Hield/Barnes/Davis/Asik would be a pretty decent starting lineup.

Although, it would have smelled way too much like the Holiday/Evans signings they made instead of continuing to build through the draft, but at this point it's kind of too late in AD's career to go the draft route.

[Jon1798]

I stated many times in the past to look out for the Pels with Barnes. Harrison played for Gentry in Golden State, had already proven to be a good small ball SF/PF, and was in the same draft class and on same general timeline as AD. My understanding was at max money, he chose Dallas over the Pels and we never really had a shot in the end.

[CarMalone]

The Pelicans are probably better off losing as many games as possible and getting a high draft pick. If not, they run the risk of becoming a perennial treadmill team or at best a second tier team.

[baldur]

The Pelicans are probably better off losing as many games as possible and getting a high draft pick. If not, they run the risk of becoming a perennial treadmill team or at best a second tier team.

You can't lose deliberately so easily with a top 10 player in your roster.

[CarMalone]

The Pelicans are probably better off losing as many games as possible and getting a high draft pick. If not, they run the risk of becoming a perennial treadmill team or at best a second tier team.

You can't lose deliberately so easily with a top 10 player in your roster.

True. The Pelicans wasted Davis's early years by trying to be competitive and going for veterans like Ryan Anderson, Omer Asik, Jrue Holiday, etc.

[NBA4u]

At one point last summer, the New Orleans Pelicans reportedly had strong interest in signing Harrison Barnes as a free agent. Management was going to use all of their available cap space to provide Anthony Davis with a front court sidekick. However, the Pelicans instead opted to use that money to sign Solomon Hill, Tim Frazier, E'Twaun Moore, Langston Galloway, etc.

Do you think that was the better move? Would Barnes have been much help to Davis?

Yes, simply because barnes is about to ener his peak and with his athleticism and length defensively, would have definitely been a nice combo with Davis. Don't think it was a horrendous move to get those roleplayers though

[FNQ]

Amazing timing that this breaks as Barnes establishes himself as a better player than most thought, myself included.

As I said on the WT post: ranks right up there with Chip Kelly's "I wanted to draft Dak but they wouldnt let me" line.

[510TWSS]

I think HB would've fit in, although maybe not the ppg scorer he is right now on Dallas. Although, you could argue it's better for him being a secondary scorer.