Why Philadelphia 76ers Signing Barnes Would Be Catastrophic

If there is one thing 76ers fans can expect from Bryan Colangelo its that he will overpay free agents. If today’s reports are any indication it appears that Colangelo has set his sights on Harrison Barnes as his next big free agent mistake.

Harrison Barnes averaged 11.7 points per game, 4.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists per game while shooting 46.6 percent in the 2015-2016 season. Typically not numbers you see from a max player. One could argue that he plays around three superstars for the Warriors and there were simply too many mouths to feed to allow Barnes to accumulate exceptional statistics. I understand that point, however I feel when you are the fourth or fifth option in the minds of the opposing defense that leaves with excellent chances to make plays.

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Harrison Barnes play or lack thereof in the 2016 NBA finals leaves me questioning how any team would be poised to give him a maximum contract with confidence. Barnes simply is not a star player and that was exposed in the NBA Finals. Barnes’ production in the 2016 postseason dipped from his mediocre regular season statistics to 9 points per game, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists while shooting an abysmal 38.5 percent from the field. Even when giving the opportunity to succeed in a finals game in which Draymond Green was suspended, Barnes only scored 5 points on 2-14 shooting. Yet another red flag for a so called “max player”.

I doubt that Colangelo truly believes that Barnes is a max contract player with all the blatant red flags smacking him in the face. I truly believe that he will overpay Barnes in a feeble attempt to rush the 76ers to first round exits in the NBA playoffs in order to secure praise and his job. Let’s not forget the potential collusion at hand here as well. Everyone simultaneously scratched their heads when Harrison Barnes was selected to play on team USA. Obviously conspiracy theorists surmised that this was Jerry Colangelo’s doing in order to assist Bryan in courting Barnes. It cant be true? It is to crazy to believe… or is it?

Jerry Colangelo slid into the Philadelphia 76ers last year to “assist” Sam Hinkie in the rebuild process of the Sixers. The only rebuilding Jerry was apart of however was that he pulled the old bait and switch and got Sam Hinkie essentially fired so that his unemployed son could have a job. Given how that situation went down I wouldn’t for a second question that Barnes position on team USA is the first step in Bryan trying to entice Barnes to come over to the east coast.

I really don’t know how to end this piece other than to say I don’t know why anyone think Harrison Barnes is worth a max contract, or what he has done to show that he can carry a team. My worst fear was realized when Bryan Colangelo was placed at the head of the Sixers table, just as all the intricately-laid multi-layered plans of the past three years are coming to fruition. I just hope Colangelo doesn’t rush this team to the middle just like he did in Toronto. A max deal here would only undermine the fiscal foundation laid before, and sink the Sixers in a salary cap hole which would limit us moving forward. A position we as fans are all to familiar with thanks to Billy King.

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Just as top tier free agents walk away from deals that are not worth are time, I feel the Philadelphia 76ers should walk away from this deal before it happens. Harrison Barnes is a part of the Golden State Warrrior’s past. He should not be considered to be part of the Philadelphia 76ers future.