NBA Rumors: Philadelphia 76ers Pursuing Golden State Warriors Star Harrison Barnes In Free Agency

In order to bring a winning environment to the locker room, NBA teams oftentimes target guys from championship teams. According to CBS Sports, the Philadelphia 76ers are targeting Harrison Barnes in free agency this summer. Having won a title with the Golden State Warriors, the Sixers are hoping that he can bring that mentality to their young roster.

When people talk about the Golden State Warriors, the most mentioned names are Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Those guys cast a pretty big shadow because they are among the best players in the NBA. Harrison Barnes oftentimes gets overshadowed by the trio.

Executives and coaches in the NBA are paid big bucks to pay attention to the entire roster. Guys such as Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli are on their radars. People in the National Basketball Association know just how valuable those two were to the historic two-year run by the Golden State Warriors.

Link to the @espn latest w/ @MarcJSpearsESPN on Philly's interest in Harrison Barnes (plus Shaun Livingston news) -> https://t.co/FZFB7OyFtL

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 28, 2016

Since he was a part of the Golden State Warriors and their success, Harrison Barnes is highly coveted by NBA teams. There are even talks that the 6’8″ small forward has a chance to command a contract that averages out at $22 million a season.

The Philadelphia 76ers might have no choice but to offer Harrison Barnes that amount of money if they want to pry him away from the Golden State Warriors. Barnes is a restricted free agent, which means that the Warriors can match any offer that he receives. The Sixers will need to make Barnes an offer that Golden State feels is out of their price range.

ESPN is reporting that the Golden State Warriors are going to focus on Harrison Barnes if they cannot sign Kevin Durant. While they’re focusing on Durant, however, another NBA team might swoop in and steal Barnes away.

Losing Harrison Barnes would not be the end of the world for the Golden State Warriors. They still have Andre Iguodala on the roster. While Warriors head coach Steve Kerr likes having the versatile veteran as a weapon off the bench, Iguodala would gladly love to be in the starting lineup again.

With the Philadelphia 76ers, Harrison Barnes will have a much bigger role than the one that he has with the Golden State Warriors. The Sixers simply do not have as much established talent as the previous NBA Champions. Barnes might even be the first option on some nights.

Depending on how convincing new general manager Bryan Colangelo is, the Philadelphia 76ers should have some more talent heading into next season. The franchise has approximately $60 million in salary cap space. That’s enough to draw in two of the best players in the NBA, providing Colangelo can sell them on the future of the Sixers.

It’s very interesting that the Philadelphia 76ers would target Harrison Barnes, as he is a small forward. With the first overall selection in the NBA Draft earlier this month, the Sixers selected Ben Simmons. The former LSU Tigers star also plays the small forward position, so Barnes might seem redundant to some.

There’s always the chance that the Philadelphia 76ers make some trades to clear up a spot for Harrison Barnes. ESPN stated that Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor have both been shopped around by the Sixers. Moving either of those guys would allow Philadelphia to play Barnes and Ben Simmons at the two forward positions at the same time.

Harrison Barnes is going to have plenty of options in free agency. The Philadelphia 76ers have emerged as the first suitor, and they more than likely will not be the last one. The Golden State Warriors have a tough decision to make.

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