Can Harrison Barnes break out like James Harden if he goes to another team?

[pipfan]

He should come to the Bulls and find out. He could be our #2 option, and learn from Butler

[RSP83]

No. But nobody thought Jimmy Butler would ever become more than just another Ronnie Brewer. So who knows?

[Austincys21]

I'm really hoping the Lakers throw max money at him this offseason.

Me too!

Well since above average role players these days get max money I wouldn't say why not. I'd much rather go after Barnes than Derozan with the max. I love Barnes attitude and he's proven to be a great teammate. He can be a solid piece into building a young team.

[mtron929]

You want to be the team that has Barnes playing under a very cheap contract (4-5 million a year) with a very well-suited 4th option on a loaded team.

You don't want to be the team that has Barnes playing under a max contract making him playing an ill-suited 2nd option on a team.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

I think he has the potential be a 25 ppg with great defense type player on another team. He will never be great with the Warriors with Curry and Thompson.

James Harden didn't break out when he switched teams though. He was already an outstanding player in OKC with a ridiculous 65% TS. So you can't even compare the two players really. He was simply phenomenal in his role in okc.

[SF_Warriors]

His upside is a prime luol deng...good 3rd/4th option

[cpower]

he cant dribble, how can he be James Harden?

[FNQ]

If Barnes is a top 2 option or scoring 20 a night for your team, you will be wondering who your team is drafting in the teens by February.

[spaceballer]

Barnes on this Warriors team reached the pinnacle of winning a ring, and have a chance to set up a dynasty.

Harden leaving the Thunder set the team back and may have wasted the contention window when they were just on the brink and had just been in the finals.

I don't think Barnes has as large an impact on the Warriors as Harden has on the Thunder. Partly just by nature of the difference in playstyle between the two teams in terms of teamwork and ball movement vs. superstar iso's.

[EvanZ]

See my sig.

[ken6199]

To be an MVP level player? God no. He's a corner 3pt shooter who can take an off-balance or slower defender off the dribble from time to time. Not a great playmaker (but good at making the smart pass), and really not elite at anything other than the corner three. Terrific role player, but no, he's not a breakout waiting to happen. Harden had skills on skills on skills. Barnes is rigid.

Harden is not an mvp level player either.

Don't go there.

[dc]

No

[SonicMcMahon]

I could see Harrison Barnes breaking out in a Rashard Lewis kind of way. He could develop a bit of a post game. He already has shooting and size. He's opportunistic off the bounce. Really I think Lewis is a realistic upside. A really good player.

He just doesn't have the breakdown ability Harden does. I don't see 'superstar' in his future.

[likashing]

To Lakers fans. Not saying the Lakers will do it, but if you choose to, would you get Harrison Barnes for $90m/4 or DeRozan for $105m/4? Harrison Barnes' max is 25% while DeRozan's max is 30%...

[Slava]

To Lakers fans. Not saying the Lakers will do it, but if you choose to, would you get Harrison Barnes for $90m/4 or DeRozan for $105m/4? Harrison Barnes' max is 25% while DeRozan's max is 30%...

Even if the salary numbers were reversed, I'd pick Barnes.

[turk3d]

Unfortunately there's been a lot of Warrior fans who were butt hurt when Barnes was picked over Drummond in the draft and have wanted him to fail over the years (I can see why, Drummond's a stud) but I don't agree with them because I believe that Barnes was the right pick for the Warriors that year.

I don't believe we'd have won a ring last year with Drummond instead Barnes (I doubt he would have played much with Bogut and Ezeli). One other thing about Barnes that should be mentioned which may be overlooked, he's very strong for a guy his size who is as athletic as he is. Who would you rather have, Barnes @ $20M or Parsons, r Hayward , Tobias Harris, Greg Monroe, Enes Kanter or Wesley Matthews @$16M? I imagine that Batum is going to be in that price range as well next season.

[Doctor MJ]

I think he has the potential be a 25 ppg with great defense type player on another team. He will never be great with the Warriors with Curry and Thompson.

It's important to note:

Harden scored more.
Harden scored far more efficiently.
Harden's playmaking in OKC basically took Jeff Van Gundy's breath away on the air.
The team's great play correlated much more with Harden than GS has with Barnes.

I'm not saying Barnes isn't a good player, and I'm not saying it's impossible that he's finally ready to thrive with higher primacy, but Harden's situation was essentially unique.

[Johnny Firpo]

A gallinari with defence is his ceiling I think

Gallinari is a good defender and actually much more skilled than Barnes (superior handle and moves). Watch him some more.

[naabzor]

Man... 25 points it's a ton of points... He would be right behind Lebron and in the top 10 for scorers this year... Unlikely. He sure can do more than what he is done till now but he is no Harden. Anyway I dunno if he has not alpha personality... when PO time come he seems to improve his game.

[HeartBreakKid]

alot of you guys are short changing barnes.

His midrange game this year has been pretty decent. The warriors have been running ISO midrange plays for him ever since last year.
His midrange jumpshot, is better than hardens.

I don't think he will ever be as good as harden, but that's a weird comparison.
He looks more like a poor mans Kawhi.

Good catch and shoot 3,

slasher, and can take a guy off the dribble half the time-- this will improve.
and he has a good midrange game + athleticism above the rim.

he could break out on another team, but he won't be as offensively similar to harden, or will he be a superstar.
his peak "could" be a PG13 or little worse version of KL.

Based on what, because he's currently a 3&D guy? I mean you do realize how old Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are right (only a year older more or less in basketball terms, considering PG missed nearly all of last season)? Leonard and George showed greater flashes and had more important roles on contending teams than Barnes did by Barnes' current age.

I mean if what you're saying is true, then Barnes would already be the 2nd best player on his team, if not the 3rd best ahead of Klay Thompson and Iggy. He wasn't even a top 5 player on the Warriors last year in my opinion, which says a lot about their great depth, but also says that Barnes is not...that talented.

Saying Barnes will be a top ten player is like saying Gordon Hayward (who was the same age as Barnes was last year, and his 15 season was more impressive then what I've seen from Barnes this year) will be a top ten player. There's nothing wrong with being Gordon Hayward, but there's a reason why no one expects Hayward to be a superstar, and that's because he's not on a championship team.


To anyone who is pro Barnes, what makes Barnes better than Gordon Hayward?