Philadelphia 76ers Off-Season Patrolling The Perimeter: Batum or Barnes

Closing the Barnes door after the horse has bolted

Another option is the Golden State Warriors Harrison Barnes. Although he is also likely to be hotly pursued by his current team, the Warriors have budgeted an amount for Barnes in the $16 million per year / four years area to keep his salary in line with that of other players on the roster. But like Batum, Barnes is interested in determining where and for how much he is willing to play next season.

Clearly the only attraction to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers for this player is the financial aspect. A large short term contract (2 years max salary) could persuade the young man to come on board with the Sixers. If the team improves as rapidly as hoped for, he’s a key player on a rapidly emerging team who can name his price and team in three years. If the team does not improve rapidly, he’s been paid top dollar for his experience and can jump onto a better prospective team.

So why is he in such high demand? Two way is the new “chic” direction of the NBA. Barnes is averaging 12.4 points per game while shooting 39.5 percent from the three-point line, and he is also an above average defender. Being a two-way player is very valuable in this league, and Barnes is worth a salary that would pay him eight figures over the next five or six years.

Barnes has also played twice against the Philadelphia 76ers.  In two games, he has averaged 10.5 points per game, shooting at 40% from the floor and 60% from three-point range.  He’s also averaged 4.0 rebounds per game, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.   His contribution, as Batum’s, is on the defensive side of the ball as a perimeter defender.  In both games, Philadelphia had difficulty sinking three pointers against Barnes’ defensive prowess.

Of the two, Barnes is clearly of the right “age window” for the Sixers plan, himself being just a three year veteran with huge upside.  Since he will be a restricted free agent, the Warriors will have the opportunity to match any offer.  But Philly’s offer will automatically need to be a true premium just to attract the player.   This one could work very well if executive Jerry Colangelo and president and general manager Sam Hinkie could pull it off.

Next: When Can We Trust Joel Embiid is Good to Go?

The other unspoken aspect of the benefits of either Batum or Barnes is that they have that “Charles Barkley” like trait in that they can slide up or down the lineup, using their speed and strength to defend larger bodies, or sliding down to create incredible mismatches in their favor.  We know that Brett Brown loves to set his lineup to maximize how his team matches up against his opponent.  The placement of either Batum or Barnes on this lineup gives him the ability to position Saric, Embiid, and potential his wing to create true mismatches.  The value of Ben Simmons in that scenario cannot be overstated, setting him in as a point guard through power forward truly gives this team the potential to go beyond the small ball version of the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs up to the next level – tall ball.

The key to this evolution of the team, and perhaps even of the game of basketball as we know it is to give the team the right players.  We can judge the seriousness of the planning by how aggressive the Sixers are this off-season.   Perhaps it’s all part of an imaginary future that will never truly be realized.  But the only way to discover that is to step forward boldly.