Will Danny offer Harrison Barnes a max contract as a restricted free agent?

[chambers]

So back in 2013, the rumor was that Ainge offered up Paul Pierce for Harrison Barnes and an expiring contract. We don't know how close this offer was to happening, but at the time it sounded like the Warriors actually considered it.

During the 2012 draft, Danny was supposedly trying to move up in the draft and really wanted Barnes.
http://hardwoodhoudini.com/2012/06/26/celtics-interested-in-harrison-barnes-and-terrance-ross/

Anyway, given his history/interest in Barnes, could we see him throw a max contract offer at Barnes next offseason?

And would you be happy if he did?
Seems like he may be a somewhat realistic target for a midseason trade so we can get his RFA rights and for a playoff push....

[Vermont Green]

Harrison Barnes?  Is he actually all that much better than Jae Crowder?

I don't see it; definitely not trading for him and also not offering a Max contract.  We have enough middle of the road players.  We don't need to overpay to get more.

[chambers]

Harrison Barnes?  Is he actually all that much better than Jae Crowder?

I don't see it; definitely not trading for him and also not offering a Max contract.  We have enough middle of the road players.  We don't need to overpay to get more.

He just turned 23, is 6'8".
FG% 48% and 3 point 40.5%
Only attempted 8 shots per game. Hard for him to get a lot of looks on that GSW team.
He turned down their offer of 4 years x $16 million and will hit the RFA market.

I too wonder if Danny would just stick with Crowder and wait for a true All Star but he loves Barnes. I mean really loves him. At age 23 if Barnes could get 16+ shot attempts a game he'd be looking at a very efficient 18 points, 5-6 rebounds per game whilst hopefully improving even more at he moves towards his prime.
At 23 he's younger than Sullinger and Olynyk.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'd be 100% happy with it, but it seems like a guy that Ainge might go after. If he was willing to give Tobias Harris close to the max (well rumored to), then I could definitely see him throwing the max at Barnes before the cap goes up.
If he offers him 4x18 million that's 16.5% of the cap in 2017...
eg Jeff Green was 15.5% of the cap at $9 million in 2010.

edit: I think the maximum he can get is 4 years x $19 million or 4 years with a 5 year player option?

[Moranis]

Harrison Barnes?  Is he actually all that much better than Jae Crowder?

I don't see it; definitely not trading for him and also not offering a Max contract.  We have enough middle of the road players.  We don't need to overpay to get more.

He just turned 23, is 6'8".
FG% 48% and 3 point 40.5%
Only attempted 8 shots per game. Hard for him to get a lot of looks on that GSW team.
He turned down their offer of 4 years x $16 million and will hit the RFA market.

I too wonder if Danny would just stick with Crowder and wait for a true All Star but he loves Barnes. I mean really loves him. At age 23 if Barnes could get 16+ shot attempts a game he'd be looking at a very efficient 18 points, 5-6 rebounds per game whilst hopefully improving even more at he moves towards his prime.
At 23 he's younger than Sullinger and Olynyk.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'd be 100% happy with it, but it seems like a guy that Ainge might go after. If he was willing to give Tobias Harris close to the max (well rumored to), then I could definitely see him throwing the max at Barnes before the cap goes up.
If he offers him 4x18 million that's 16.5% of the cap in 2017...
eg Jeff Green was 15.5% of the cap at $9 million in 2010.

If he was looking at 16 shots a game he probably wouldn't be nearly as efficient.  He isn't a great take it to the hole player and shooters like him who get 16 shots a game force the issue a lot.

[chambers]

Harrison Barnes?  Is he actually all that much better than Jae Crowder?

I don't see it; definitely not trading for him and also not offering a Max contract.  We have enough middle of the road players.  We don't need to overpay to get more.

He just turned 23, is 6'8".
FG% 48% and 3 point 40.5%
Only attempted 8 shots per game. Hard for him to get a lot of looks on that GSW team.
He turned down their offer of 4 years x $16 million and will hit the RFA market.

I too wonder if Danny would just stick with Crowder and wait for a true All Star but he loves Barnes. I mean really loves him. At age 23 if Barnes could get 16+ shot attempts a game he'd be looking at a very efficient 18 points, 5-6 rebounds per game whilst hopefully improving even more at he moves towards his prime.
At 23 he's younger than Sullinger and Olynyk.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'd be 100% happy with it, but it seems like a guy that Ainge might go after. If he was willing to give Tobias Harris close to the max (well rumored to), then I could definitely see him throwing the max at Barnes before the cap goes up.
If he offers him 4x18 million that's 16.5% of the cap in 2017...
eg Jeff Green was 15.5% of the cap at $9 million in 2010.

If he was looking at 16 shots a game he probably wouldn't be nearly as efficient.  He isn't a great take it to the hole player and shooters like him who get 16 shots a game force the issue a lot.

Yeah he's not a dribble breakdown kind of player, but I read that the Warriors asked him to focus on his pick and roll game as the ball handler so he can start attacking the basket more.
Dribbling and PnR were his focuses of the off season.
Regarding getting him 16 shots, if we can get Avery Bradley 13 shots a game I don't think it would be too hard to get Barnes 16 shots a game, although yeah his percentages might drop, but if he drove to the basket more his free throw attempts would increase and would help maintain those percentages.

[saltlover]

I think it's a possibility.  Barnes would have to show continued growth this season, however.  I'd think it also depends what happens in the draft.  If the basketball gods smile on us and we get Simmons, I would think Barnes drops down the priority list.  He'll also have to be told no by KD and LeBron first, which is obviously very likely and a near certainty, respectively, but Danny can't help himself but ask.

Of course, with the amount of money teams have to spend, I'd also expect that if the C's don't give Barnes a max offer, someone else will, barring complete regression this season.

[dreamgreen]

No Danny wouldn't do anything that dumb.

[chambers]

I think it's a possibility.  Barnes would have to show continued growth this season, however.  I'd think it also depends what happens in the draft.  If the basketball gods smile on us and we get Simmons, I would think Barnes drops down the priority list.  He'll also have to be told no by KD and LeBron first, which is obviously very likely and a near certainty, respectively, but Danny can't help himself but ask.

Of course, with the amount of money teams have to spend, I'd also expect that if the C's don't give Barnes a max offer, someone else will, barring complete regression this season.

Yeah I guess you could theoretically offer another 2-3 guys $20+ million dollar deals even after paying him something around $18m. (with some trades of course).

It's going to be hard for Barnes to get much more opportunity on that Warriors team unless they specifically get him more shots in the offense.

It's one of those future predicaments I could see down the road considering how much Danny loves him. He was pretty good in the playoffs, but he's the 4th or 5th fiddle on GSW.
I think it's his age and athleticism that is what is so appealing for GM's.

[Denis998]

This would have been the only year max contracts would have been given out left and right. I expect the relative value of players to go back to normal. Because of that I think DA wont give out the max.

[Csfan1984]

Talent is hard to come by so yes I'd expect Barnes to get the max. Good thing about GS is they probably would work a sign and trade with the C's. So maybe it's not necessarily 18 million added money to the overall cap maybe it's Crowder, JJ and a exemption for Barnes. That means just 6 or so million added to the cap and an extra roster spot for a 2016 pick. And Barnes is way better than Crowder.

[chambers]

Talent is hard to come by so yes I'd expect Barnes to get the max. Good thing about GS is they probably would work a sign and trade with the C's. So maybe it's not necessarily 18 million added money to the overall cap maybe it's Crowder, JJ and a exemption for Barnes. That means just 6 or so million added to the cap and an extra roster spot for a 2016 pick. And Barnes is way better than Crowder.

Good point. In any case I think GSW would be keen for Crowder as a Barnes replacement.
Crowder would have no problem being the 5th fiddle for them.
They could bring Crowder off the bench and start Iggy too.
Would really sting to let Crowder go but I'd probably have to say yes if they asked for a Crowder/Barnes swap.

[tarheelsxxiii]

Stats won't do Barnes justice because he's playing within such an offensive juggernaut. But he's good, really good, and worth the max to a team like ours -- monetary value is relative to the team/player.

[Moranis]

Harrison Barnes?  Is he actually all that much better than Jae Crowder?

I don't see it; definitely not trading for him and also not offering a Max contract.  We have enough middle of the road players.  We don't need to overpay to get more.

He just turned 23, is 6'8".
FG% 48% and 3 point 40.5%
Only attempted 8 shots per game. Hard for him to get a lot of looks on that GSW team.
He turned down their offer of 4 years x $16 million and will hit the RFA market.

I too wonder if Danny would just stick with Crowder and wait for a true All Star but he loves Barnes. I mean really loves him. At age 23 if Barnes could get 16+ shot attempts a game he'd be looking at a very efficient 18 points, 5-6 rebounds per game whilst hopefully improving even more at he moves towards his prime.
At 23 he's younger than Sullinger and Olynyk.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'd be 100% happy with it, but it seems like a guy that Ainge might go after. If he was willing to give Tobias Harris close to the max (well rumored to), then I could definitely see him throwing the max at Barnes before the cap goes up.
If he offers him 4x18 million that's 16.5% of the cap in 2017...
eg Jeff Green was 15.5% of the cap at $9 million in 2010.

If he was looking at 16 shots a game he probably wouldn't be nearly as efficient.  He isn't a great take it to the hole player and shooters like him who get 16 shots a game force the issue a lot.

Yeah he's not a dribble breakdown kind of player, but I read that the Warriors asked him to focus on his pick and roll game as the ball handler so he can start attacking the basket more.
Dribbling and PnR were his focuses of the off season.
Regarding getting him 16 shots, if we can get Avery Bradley 13 shots a game I don't think it would be too hard to get Barnes 16 shots a game, although yeah his percentages might drop, but if he drove to the basket more his free throw attempts would increase and would help maintain those percentages.

Bradley has that gunner instinct, and as you say only gets 13 shots a game.  Barnes is not a 16 shot a game player.  It isn't his style of play and if by some miracle he got close to that his percentages would fall a great deal.  It is hard to get that number of shots especially from a more limited all around offensive player like Barnes.  I mean Jeff Green, who Barnes is fairly similar to, has only been above 14 once (14.3).  Barnes is a good solid player, but he isn't a go to scorer and isn't an all world defender.  Thus, he should be paid in that manner.  Frankly I'm surprised he turned down 16 million a year.  Even with an increased cap I can't see him getting much (if at all) more than that and there is a real concern he gets less (if he doesn't progress like he should or he gets hurt).

[Donoghus]

I hope not.  Not much of a fan of his.

[Fafnir]

I hope not.  Not much of a fan of his.

Yeah, I like Barnes but I don't know if he's going to be more than a high level starter at best. And that's not the ceiling you want from a max salary free agent.