The defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors are on a historic run as they comfortably sit atop the league in the standings.
Despite this success, it has not ruled its team from making a potential trade involving one of their key starters. Harrison Barnes is set to make a lot of money this offseason. Hence, he rejected a contract extension thinking he can reap more money in the offseason when the salary cap goes up exponentially;.
According to espn.com, Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes will not sign an extension prior to the November 2 deadline and will be a restricted free agent after this season.
According to the report by cbssports.com, Barnes has been an effective starting forward for the 2014-2015 NBA champions. Barnes thrived under the leadership of newly appointed coach Steve Kerr. The forward averaged 17 points and 9.5 rebounds while shooting an efficient 48 percent from the floor per 100 possessions which makes him highly valuable to any team.
It was previously reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that the Golden State Warriors small forward was offered a contract extension worth $64 million for 4 years. This was the proposal after the initial $16 million dollars per year offer was rejected. The recent NBA champions tried hard to sign Barnes before he was able to reach restricted free agency in July 2016 but could not finalize a deal.
Barnes was still eligible for his rookie contract extension since he was a part of the 2012 NBA draft class.
Golden State Warriors general manager said "He wanted to have some resolution to his extension discussions before the start of the season, which we completely understand. I think he just wants to focus on the games as they stand now. We've completed discussions, and we're not going to be able to reach a deal."
With that said, a rumor coming from inquisitr.com states that the Warriors would like to reserve all its cap space for 2017 when their current MVP Stephen Curry will come off the books. With a young core of Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green as their foundation, the team could see Barnes as expendable.
A deal that could make the defending champs' head turn is an offer from the Brooklyn Nets of stretch forward Thaddeus Young. Trading for Young would still keep their championship contention hopes alive while allowing flexibility in the future.