Portland Trail Blazers

Harrison Barnes Would Make Sense for Trail Blazers

Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports

It’s never too early to look ahead to this summer’s free-agent frenzy, and with the Portland Trail Blazers looking to add to their young core, Golden State Warriors forward and restricted free agent Harrison Barnes would be a good target to pursue.

While the Blazers currently have Gerald Henderson, Allen Crabbe and Al-Farouq Aminu on the wing to go along with their star backcourt, there are several reasons why going after Barnes makes sense.

Henderson and Crabbe are both more shooting guards than small forwards, and Henderson may not have a future on the team beyond this year. Crabbe will also be a free agent due for a hefty raise, but the Blazers will likely try to retain him considering how effective he’s been this season.

Then there’s Aminu. While he’s been great this year, he doesn’t have the offensive repertoire of Barnes, and the youngster often operates better as a small-ball 4 anyway. The same can be said for Barnes in his current role with the Warriors, but he’s still a more natural 3 than Aminu.

But the reason this move makes the most sense? Barnes fits in with this Blazers team personality-wise. I recently talked about how the Blazers like to have players who mimic Lillard’s personality and leadership traits, and Barnes fits that.

Barnes is a guy who’s young, hungry and continually driven to prove others wrong. Not only that, but there have been rumblings that Barnes may not mind playing in Portland if he leaves Golden State.

Besides being in the City of Roses, he’d have guys he knows like Lillard, and he’d also be at the epicenter of Adidas US, as the Adidas headquarters are located in Portland.

The Blazers will have plenty of cap space to make a play for Barnes, and since they’re a small-market team that often has to overpay for mid-tier free agents, perhaps they’d be willing to give him the max deal he’d certainly like. The Warriors may not be willing to match that kind of contract, and they may look to move on from Barnes anyway if they look to sign Kevin Durant.

The Blazers making the playoffs, which they’re currently in line to do, would give them even more reason to chase after the 23-year-old. Portland loses its draft pick to the Denver Nuggets by making the postseason, giving the front office more incentive to use free agency and trades to build the roster.

Barnes gives the Blazers an opportunity to have another young piece who’d be able to adapt and grow as a player. Head coach Terry Stotts has proven he’s capable of improving and growing this young team, and that can only help sell Portland’s situation to another young talent in Barnes, who’s looking to blossom as a player. He’d have the opportunity to be a third wheel behind Lillard and C.J. McCollum instead of the fourth or fifth wheel he is in Golden State.

While Portland would have to overpay to get Barnes, it wouldn’t be a huge shock if that scenario came to fruition.

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