The question remains if the Golden State Warriors didn’t blow their 3-1 lead against the Cleveland Cavaliers would their roster be the same? Former Warrior Harrison Barnes thinks so. Barnes who joined the Dallas Mavericks this summer after the Warriors decided to let Barnes go in order to sign superstar free agent Kevin Durant, Barnes stated he knew after the Warriors blew their 3-1 lead he wouldn’t return to the team, as he described his chances to returning to the team “slim to none”.
“There were a lot of emotions after a Game 7 loss,” said Barnes, who will return to Oracle Arena as a visitor for the first time along with fellow former Warrior Andrew Bogut on Wednesday, when the Dallas Mavericks face Golden State. “I think a lot of people were upset, frustrated. And we blew a 3-1 lead. So that was the mindset. I think we knew they were going to blow it up if we lost that series, which we did. I can’t say I was surprised.”
Barnes averaged 9.3 points in the finals last year, shooting only 31 percent from three-point range and shooting 35 percent from the field. It makes sense why the Warriors would go after Kevin Durant after Barnes performance last year. But still some question why break up the best regular season team of all time?
“It was difficult, man,” Barnes said. “Just because you go back and you watch Game 7 and you’re like, ‘Man, it’s two minutes away from planning a parade’ or ‘Thank you for your services.’ It was a pretty big switch.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to put that stuff to the side. I made the decision to go to Dallas. I don’t really dwell on that and just move forward.”
The Dallas Mavericks signed Barnes to a 94 million max contract, and looks to take on being the primary scorer for the Dallas Mavericks, NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki who’s ageing and dealing with health issues. Barnes has embraced the role even though the Mavericks are off to 2-5 start, he’s averaging 22.3 points and shooting 50 percent from the field so far. He’s already scored 30 points more times than he did when he was on the Warriors. He acknowledged that he has more opportunities with his new team already.
“There’s a lot more opportunity for me here,” said Barnes, who had 31 points on 11 of 18 shooting in Tuesday’s 109-97 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. “The offense is different. Obviously, I’m not complaining about my role at Golden State, because we won a lot of games doing that. But in the same regard here, there’s just more opportunities to do different things.
“I love it. As a player, you always want to know what you can do. At the end of your career, you can look back and say, look, I was able to get this much out of my playing career and I was able to become this type of player. I think that’s what allows you to sleep well at night. I’m getting a chance to see and experience and learn. Obviously, we had a rough start, some growing pains. But I’m really looking forward to this situation.”
Will Harrison Barnes become that franchise player that the Mavericks need to compete in the future?