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

[Kupchak9]

No. I don't see him succeeding as a 1st option. As a 2nd option? Maybe. Definitely could see something like 18/6/3 with solid defense. Similar to Rudy Gay when he was on the Grizzlies.

[The Prodigy]

23 years old, uber athletic, good three point shooter and defender. He won't be James Harden but he'd be a good bet to break out with a larger role elsewhere in terms of traditional stats (his advanced stats are already very strong). Probably a third option on a good team but nowadays that's worth a max.

[MotownMadness]

LMAO, Barnes is not going to become some superstar once he leaves GS.

[zeebneeb]

LMAO, Barnes is not going to become some superstar once he leaves GS.

You know whats funny is that there is also a thread on the front page talking about players becoming over rated when they win titles.

At this rate the Golden State towel boys are going to be serviceable rotation guys on the Brooklyn Nets.

[turk3d]

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?

You do realize that Barnes is making less than $4M this year (compared to Haywards $15M)? So yes, I'd much rather have Barnes right now, Next year may be another story.

[Soulo Ho]

He could be luol deng lite imo. Less of a defender but a better shooter. Not much handle to create for himself, but is a smart, hardworking player so he could be definitely be an important contributor to a championship team(more than he does atm).


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[moocow007]

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?

I would much rather Gordon Hayward than Barnes. More versatile. More competitive. Just a better all around player.

[oaktownwarriors87]

Barnes will make a solid 8th man or 4th option for any team... But he's not a James Harden.

[EvanZ]

James Harden "broke out" in OKC. Barnes has never come close to doing the kinds of things Harden did there coming off the bench. This is his 4th season.

The cake is baked and so is anyone who thinks he has much more upside. The dude is in jeopardy of losing the starting job to Brandon Rush (who I like). Let's be real.

[jamesnamida]

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?

I would much rather Gordon Hayward than Barnes. More versatile. More competitive. Just a better all around player.

replying to both

Barnes is more efficient, and he is not just a 3 and D guy, maybe that was true in his rookie and sophomore years, but not anymore.
Barnes has been shooting around .4 at the 3 and is improving, while his fg% is near .500. His eff is better than hayward too, who just has more shot attempts. Hayward avgs 2 more assists on more minutes and touches, while barnes doesn't get to handle much b/c of curry and green.
I agree that hayward is more versatile right now, but that may change if we are talking about the subject at hand --- barnes moving to a team where he is not the 4th option.

Haywards efficiency has been on a downward trend while barnes has increased every year.
Now some of that is because he is playing on the warriors.
barnes is assisted on like half his shots, while hayward is around .35 to .4

but I don't think it's crazy to say that barnes MAY develop into what PG13 is now or a poor mans KL at his peak in a few more years if he was on another decent team as the 1st or 2nd option. that's what the topic is about.

i also have no idea why barnes isn't as competitive as hayward.

[Fico92]

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.

Why would you rather pay the max to Barnes rather than to Derozan, though?

[Forbes]

No he'd need to very good at creating his own shot and have great ball handling.

[OptionZero]

if anything people are shortchanging Harden's time at OKC. He had fewer opportunities but showed the skills to be an efficient primary ballhandler and scorer

Barnes has never shown that. His value is as a 3/D wing and smallball 4 who can capitalize on slower defenders. Even still, he has trouble breaking down his man in a set-defense situation. He's a "second-pass" guy, like Danny Leroux on RealGM radio calls it - he's good when another player has already broken the initial defense and swings it to him to shoot or attack a gap that's already there.

If you want him to create those gaps and make bigtime decisions, you're asking too much.

Kawhi and George separate themselves from Barnes with ungodly defense. Barnes doesn't quite have the skills to lockdown guys on the perimeter. He'll play in the scheme, and if matched against a bigger guy, he'll be physical and give effort, and help when needed, but he's not nearly a dude that you can put on an island and say, Revis that dude.

[BigFatBob]

Ha, no

[SF_Warriors]

LMAO, Barnes is not going to become some superstar once he leaves GS.

You know whats funny is that there is also a thread on the front page talking about players becoming over rated when they win titles.

At this rate the Golden State towel boys are going to be serviceable rotation guys on the Brooklyn Nets.

Ourtowel boys play solid D ... can spot up or take it off the dribble...would definitely be ahead of tj mcconnell in the rotation..they just cant get any pt cus the dubs are stackd

[tmorgan]

Barnes is going to get his $20 million, but it's going to be difficult for him to actually earn it. HB is exactly the kind of player poor franchises blow their cap on and wonder why their team is still struggling.

If he goes to a team that's bad or early in rebuilding and becomes the #1 or #2, it's going to get ugly. Barnes is exactly the type of player that benefits most from being on the Warriors: If space is already available, he'll exploit it, but if he has to make that space himself, he'll struggle.

Entertaining player, and a lot of teams would be better with HB starting at the 3, but 5/100 Barnes is going to under perform his contract.

[youngcrev]

If the Sixers manage to Simmons, I wouldn't bat an eye at throwing a max deal at Barnes. Don't think he'll ever really be worth it, but he'd be a perfect fit next to him as a combo forward that can defend and stretch the floor, with the added bonus of having upside to get better and championship experience.

[turk3d]

How many guys are worth what they're being paid these days? Maybe Joe Johnson or Dhoward? What about Kobe? Maybe they are, by today's NBA standards. And how is Hayward more versatile than Barnes? How I doubt very seriously he's even matched up with the Tristan Thompson's, ZBos, Lebron's, etc.

[jason bourne]

Barnes can be the next Luol Deng prime or pre-injury DeMarre Carroll. He could be an All-Star, but he has to break out first. There's still a question about that, but his floor is high enough. The question is what is his ceiling? Hard to see him as a 30 ppg player like Harden, but he could average 20/8/4. If he continues to get stronger and his defense and rebounding keeps going up, then he could be an All-Star. He can be a stretch-4 and guard PFs so that is attractive.

[FNQ]

Barnes can get to 20 a night the same way Rudy Gay can.. The reason why Barnes is valued highly/overrated is because unlike Gay, Barnes was bred onto an uber-talented team from the jump. He was the 4th option as a rookie, was the 4th option as a junior, is the 4th option now (if/when he gets into the starting lineup). Gay was forced into a top 2 offensive role throughout his career, but their offensive skillsets are extremely similar. Would expect Barnes' efficiency to crash and burn into Gay's usual territory - the ~.530 TS% range - if he were to be one of the top 2 offensive options consistently, and even worse if he was arguably a teams' best perimeter shooter.

Just like Gay, he can do what his teammates do for him, and he can iso-ball decently enough - though Gay is much better at it. Better than Gay defensively.. but really not impactful at that end of the court.