North Carolina Tar Heels: Barnes to have big role in Dallas
The Dallas Mavericks expect big things from former North Carolina Tar Heels player Harrison Barnes this upcoming season.
Former North Carolina Tar Heels wing Harrison Barnes jumped into the brave new world of NBA free agency and emerged with a max level contract from the Dallas Mavericks once it became clear where Kevin Durant was going. So he joined a roster of Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams, and Wesley Matthews trying to make good use out of Nowitzki’s final seasons.
In fact the argument could be made that the Mavericks made the most out of the Warriors’ move to pick up Durant. Besides acquiring Barnes, they also traded for center Andrew Bogut. Bogut helps fill a defensive void in the middle that the Mavs hoped that DeAndre Jordan might fill last year and Hassan Whiteside might fill this year.
However the Mavs did shed Chandler Parsons in this free agency period. Therefore the team is trying to take a step forward when all signs point to them treading water while teams like Golden State get stronger.
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One way that could change would be if Barnes develops and expands his game. That is the great hope of the Mavs. It comes from Mark Cuban himself according to reports from Tim McMahon of ESPN. Cuban said:
“You’re going to see a lot more to his game than you’ve seen in the past…I think he can do a lot more than he’s been asked to do, and that’s what we expect to see. … Maybe not first year, but I think he’s going to grow into [the role of go-to guy]. Just because a guy hasn’t done things doesn’t mean he can’t do it.”
So is it likely that Barnes has another gear? We thought we would see it in his sophomore year at Chapel Hill, but it never quite happened. Barnes’ role as a three and D guy for the Warriors made sense and did not bother his comfort zone. Will Dallas ask too much of him?