Harrison Barnes

[OnceUponADime]

If Barnes continues to develop at this rate then he will take over for Dirk as the face of the franchise once Dirk retires.

[2011Champs]

Barnes has been doing great but the team hasn't . I'm worried that he is just putting up stats on a horrible team. But then again, no one else other than Barea can score on this team.

[SFrush]

If Barnes continues to develop at this rate then he will take over for Dirk as the face of the franchise once Dirk retires.

sigh That would be not be good.

[Texas Chuck]

If Barnes continues to develop at this rate then he will take over for Dirk as the face of the franchise once Dirk retires.

sigh That would be not be good.

Well no one is ever taking Dirk's place in that regard so no worries. But is Harrison Barnes already our best player? Yeah he is. Is that reflective of our record? Yeah.

But credit to Barnes, he has been legit good 10 games in and far better than I think anyone expected. I feel a lot better about that contract than I did a month ago. And that's with my expectation that we see somewhat of a regression to the mean over the course of the season.

But we definitely got ourselves a good player there. And I can live with the contract as it is what it is.

[Mr B]

If Barnes continues to develop at this rate then he will take over for Dirk as the face of the franchise once Dirk retires.

At this rate they will be adding a top draft pick in a very deep draft. So they should have another infusion of top level talent coming over the next couple years. They finally are out of that cycle of trading their 1st round pick (hopefully). Although I have fear that they will trade their pick for Cousins at the trade deadline.

[OnceUponADime]

If Barnes continues to develop at this rate then he will take over for Dirk as the face of the franchise once Dirk retires.

sigh That would be not be good.

Well no one is ever taking Dirk's place in that regard so no worries. But is Harrison Barnes already our best player? Yeah he is. Is that reflective of our record? Yeah.

But credit to Barnes, he has been legit good 10 games in and far better than I think anyone expected. I feel a lot better about that contract than I did a month ago. And that's with my expectation that we see somewhat of a regression to the mean over the course of the season.

But we definitely got ourselves a good player there. And I can live with the contract as it is what it is.

I'm not saying he'll be a GOAT like Dirk, I'm saying he'll be the next face of the Mavs franchise.

Its like saying Kawhi is the next face of franchise after Duncan retires. Is Kawhi replacing Duncan on a player level? Hell no, as good as Kawhi is he's not even close to Duncan's level. But he's still the face of the Spurs franchise. Or Whiteside being the face of the franchise after Wade left. Or one of Russel/Ingram/Randle being face of franchise for Lakers after Kobe retired.

[Texas Chuck]

Mah mate. KAwhi is a legit franchise level player deserving to be the face of a franchise. Barnes just isn't that. Dirk will still be the face of the franchise(or Cuban I guess) unless we get our next special player. And even then even if someday we get a better player than Dirk, I'm not sure he will ever replace Dirk. Captain America is still the most popular Cowboy. Modano more popular than Benn.

You have to be a Dallas guy maybe to understand the special relationship this city has with Dirk.

[BIG FURB]

If Barnes continues to develop at this rate then he will take over for Dirk as the face of the franchise once Dirk retires.

sigh That would be not be good.

Considering how he's looked as a go to guy in Dallas I don't see why it wouldn't be good. They put some more talented young pieces around him and they'll be back to their winning ways sooner than expected

[ModIn]

If Barnes continues to develop at this rate then he will take over for Dirk as the face of the franchise once Dirk retires.

sigh That would be not be good.

Considering how he's looked as a go to guy in Dallas I don't see why it wouldn't be good. They put some more talented young pieces around him and they'll be back to their winning ways sooner than expected

Not really. It is sickening to see how much people are underrating Dirk still.

That guy is one of the best 15 players to EVER play this game.

The dumb "you put some pieces around him and he will make it work somehow" did work with Dirk because he was something special.

It certainly won't work with Barnes even if he continues to develop.

If the Mavs won't be able to pair Barnes with someone better than him and surround those two with a way better supporting cast than Dirk ever had, we won't be close to a contender any time soon...

[BIG FURB]

sigh That would be not be good.

Considering how he's looked as a go to guy in Dallas I don't see why it wouldn't be good. They put some more talented young pieces around him and they'll be back to their winning ways sooner than expected

Not really. It is sickening to see how much people are underrating Dirk still.

That guy is one of the best 15 players to EVER play this game.

The dumb "you put some pieces around him and he will make it work somehow" did work with Dirk because he was something special.

It certainly won't work with Barnes even if he continues to develop.

If the Mavs won't be able to pair Barnes with someone better than him and surround those two with a way better supporting cast than Dirk ever had, we won't be close to a contender any time soon...

I don't see anyone underrating Dirk here, the guys a HOFer and is sorely missed this season. But Barnes is clearly far better than most people thought he was gonna be so far this season. And considering the lack of talent currently on the Mavs it's not a stretch to say that they'll improve if they ever add more talent. If Barnes keeps up this current level of play, combined with his work ethic and clean cut image, I don't see why he wouldn't be a good choice as the face of the franchise once Dirk retires. That doesn't mean he's as good as Dirk you know. Paul Pierce became the face of the Celtics, doesn't mean he compares to Larry Legend, and they had to team him with 2 other HOFers in order to become title contenders again. It'll probably take something similar for that to happen in Dallas.

[Suka Bongcic]

sigh That would be not be good.

Considering how he's looked as a go to guy in Dallas I don't see why it wouldn't be good. They put some more talented young pieces around him and they'll be back to their winning ways sooner than expected

Not really. It is sickening to see how much people are underrating Dirk still.

That guy is one of the best 15 players to EVER play this game.

The dumb "you put some pieces around him and he will make it work somehow" did work with Dirk because he was something special.

It certainly won't work with Barnes even if he continues to develop.

If the Mavs won't be able to pair Barnes with someone better than him and surround those two with a way better supporting cast than Dirk ever had, we won't be close to a contender any time soon...

How do you know a 24 year old keep improving and become a franchise player? Looks how much better he's gotten this offseason. His handle is leaps and bounds better. His mid range game has improved. His defense improved the previous 2 seasons. The kid puts in work. Look at demarr derozan. Over the last 4 years he's improved his game each year. Is he going to be Lebron or Steph? No. No one is. I know for a fact that HB is much better right now than what you thought you were getting. Why is that? Because he wasn't this good prior to this year. He's gotten better. I'm not saying he's going to be a 1st team all NBA like Dirk but he has the ability to be the face of the franchise and perennial all star. This current team might have less talent than any team in the NBA, including Philly. The pieces they put around him are going to make or break this franchise during his tenure. He won't win by himself.

[ModIn]

Dirk might be the single greatest offensive weapon this game has ever seen when it comes to spacing and making room for his teammates to shine.

Barnes is overachieving right now and surpassing expectations. I hope he can keep it up.

But I am heavily objecting to the notion that we just can put some vets and half-decent free agents around him and than our rebuild is over and we can contend again.

That is ludicrous. Even if Barnes can one day be the face of our franchise (I have my doubts), he will need a ton more help than Dirk ever did.
The Mavs will need to hit on a few high picks in order to surround him with enough talent to achieve anything.
Luckily enough he is young enough to suffer through that.

The Mavs need a serious (young) talent infusion (and not through free agency. we won't get the calibre of players we need there) and it has to come through the draft.

Harrison Barnes looks good. But I don't envision him to be a top10 player in this league anytime soon.

The dumbest thing we can do right now is to put too high expectations on him and just annoint him the next Dirk and act as we can just do business as usual and that he will lead us right back into contention.

Barnes right now is just one piece of the puzzle. And he should not be treated as anything more unless proven otherwise.

[BIG FURB]

The dumbest thing we can do right now is to put too high expectations on him and just annoint him the next Dirk and act as we can just do business as usual and that he will lead us right back into contention.

I'm pretty sure nobody here is anointing Barnes the next Dirk, and when I say put talented young pieces around him I mean high lottery picks (y'all should be bad enough for a season or 2 to get one or two) and maybe get another solid free agent. I don't mean just drafting a few more Justin Anderson's and hoping athleticism can be developed into useful nba players. I mean adding guys with allstar potential. It'll be a process and might not happen til the last year in Barnes contract, if at all. I hope for y'alls sake it can happen faster than that, like you draft Dennis Smith Jr and he's even better than projected. After all, as much as rebuilding can be necessary, it's definitely not easy to watch as a fan

[N8N]

Yeah what I got from the post is that we can't just add some super role players like what Dirk got in his championship run to be somewhat decent again (and them somehow outperforming expectations for a good stretch). I agree, we need some other AS caliber players with Barnes. Whether he ends up as first or second option doesn't really matter, since he seems to be a team player. There were times when Monta outplayed everyone else and Dirk never complained.

What is being overshadowed here is that we seem to have forgotten the doom and gloom we had whenever the talk of Dirk retiring came up. Now we have one good piece in Barnes (looking like so far), and I understand the need to temper expectations, but it is much better than our prospects before. At least we can now say, "hey Dirk's on his last legs...what now? Oh we have Barnes, now we look for someone else a little better or like him and a few more players who will complement them and run Rick's system."

[RGM_SU]

Barnes scoring numbers in the clutch is eye-popping right now. Not sustainable at all in the long run, but still.

Last 5 minutes, score <=5 points: 10-13 FG, 1-1 3P, 2-2 FT for 23 points in 21 minutes (and 2 offensive and 2 defensive boards)
Last 3 minutes, score <=5 points: 5-7 FG, 1-1 3P, 2-2 FT for 13 points in 14 minutes

[fuller4379]

Barnes is probably Robin. We still need Batman, but Batman is hard to find. Dirk was Superman and was able to win his championship without a Robin caliber player.

[Jinra]

Barnes is probably Robin. We still need Batman, but Batman is hard to find. Dirk was Superman and was able to win his championship without a Robin caliber player.

There is a belief that Tyson Chandler was the ultimate Robin to Dirk. Or Batman to Dirk's Superman.

I agree though, Barnes would be an awesome Robin to a great Batman. Time will only tell if he can carry Batman role for a full season.

[Suka Bongcic]

Dirk might be the single greatest offensive weapon this game has ever seen when it comes to spacing and making room for his teammates to shine.

Barnes is overachieving right now and surpassing expectations. I hope he can keep it up.

But I am heavily objecting to the notion that we just can put some vets and half-decent free agents around him and than our rebuild is over and we can contend again.

That is ludicrous. Even if Barnes can one day be the face of our franchise (I have my doubts), he will need a ton more help than Dirk ever did.
The Mavs will need to hit on a few high picks in order to surround him with enough talent to achieve anything.
Luckily enough he is young enough to suffer through that.

The Mavs need a serious (young) talent infusion (and not through free agency. we won't get the calibre of players we need there) and it has to come through the draft.

Harrison Barnes looks good. But I don't envision him to be a top10 player in this league anytime soon.

The dumbest thing we can do right now is to put too high expectations on him and just annoint him the next Dirk and act as we can just do business as usual and that he will lead us right back into contention.

Barnes right now is just one piece of the puzzle. And he should not be treated as anything more unless proven otherwise.

Where did anyone say we can just add some vets and free agents and be a contender? Where did anyone anoint him the new dirk? Big difference between saying Barnes might be the face of the franchise and saying he's the new dirk. You're inking a lot of things that no one here has said

[Roddy B for 3]

Dirk might be the single greatest offensive weapon this game has ever seen when it comes to spacing and making room for his teammates to shine.

Barnes is overachieving right now and surpassing expectations. I hope he can keep it up.

But I am heavily objecting to the notion that we just can put some vets and half-decent free agents around him and than our rebuild is over and we can contend again.

That is ludicrous. Even if Barnes can one day be the face of our franchise (I have my doubts), he will need a ton more help than Dirk ever did.
The Mavs will need to hit on a few high picks in order to surround him with enough talent to achieve anything.
Luckily enough he is young enough to suffer through that.

The Mavs need a serious (young) talent infusion (and not through free agency. we won't get the calibre of players we need there) and it has to come through the draft.

Harrison Barnes looks good. But I don't envision him to be a top10 player in this league anytime soon.

The dumbest thing we can do right now is to put too high expectations on him and just annoint him the next Dirk and act as we can just do business as usual and that he will lead us right back into contention.

Barnes right now is just one piece of the puzzle. And he should not be treated as anything more unless proven otherwise.

Where did anyone say we can just add some vets and free agents and be a contender? Where did anyone anoint him the new dirk? Big difference between saying Barnes might be the face of the franchise and saying he's the new dirk. You're inking a lot of things that no one here has said

We will need a big time rebounder/shot blocker at center next to a PF Barnes.
A defensive specialist who rebounds well can shoot and run would be great at SF.
Then one of the guards should be a scorer/secondary playmaker while the other is a playmaker/low volume scorer. Hopefully between the two guards we get above average rebounding and at least 1 defensive stopper.
Add an above average bench and we could be golden, with Carlisle at coach and we should be golden.

Shame Deandre didn't sign

Deandre Jordan/Salah Mejri/A.J. Hammons
Barnes/Nowitzki/Dwight Powell
Al Farq-Aminu/DFS/Nicholas Brussino
Avery Bradley/Justice Anderson
Reggie Jackson/Seth Curry/J.J. Barea
Would be the mold a contender with Harrison Barnes as the lead scorer would look like.

Now, we hope Justin can be our rebounding, shotblocking, fast break running forward compliment to Barnes.

We hope Curry, Powell, DFS, Hammons and Brussino can be long-term rotation compliments.

Then we draft our PG of the future and let that guy develop his game around Barnes.

If that all works out we have 3 long-term starters and 5 of the mandatory 8 bench players entering next season. Giving us only 5 holes to fill with FA and our high second rounder.

The hope; 2017

Center (Noel?)
Harrison Barnes
Justin Anderson
Shooting Guard (Better Wesley Matthews)
Rookie top 10 pick PG

6th Nowitzki
7th Curry
8th Barea
9th Finnley-Smith
10th Powell
11th Mejri
12th Hammons
13th Brussino

14th High Second Rounder
15th Camp Invite

[SaintofKillers]

Saw Barnes's last few games and I thought it was funny that he was basically Dirk on offense.