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Dallas Mavericks: Harrison Barnes Needs To Grow As An All-Around Player

By Aaron Senghera

Sep 26, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes (40) poses for a photo during Media Day at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 26, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes (40) poses for a photo during Media Day at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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As their most coveted free agent of the 2016 NBA offseason, the Dallas Mavericks need Harrison Barnes to grow as a scorer

During the Dallas Mavericks media day, the NBA TV panel interviewed Dirk Nowitzki and he talked about how the Dallas Mavericks are planning to use Harrison Barnes in the upcoming season.

"“Harrison, we want him to grow. We want him develop. We feel like the sky’s the limit for him. He’s a workhorse. He’s in the gym morning, nights. Trying to get better, work on his game. We want him to play an all-around game. We want him to run some pick-and-rolls. We want him to post-up, want him to spot-up, want him to cut. So we want him to grow, and… he’s a great, great player. And I’m here, or were here to help him do that, and take a lot of the burden off of his shoulders.”"

With that said, it gives us a little insight into what to expect from him in the upcoming season. If Harrison Barnes is going to score in a variety of ways like Dirk Nowitzki expects, we should take a look into how he has faired in those areas thus fair in his career.

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Scoring as a spot-up shooter made up most off his offensive productivity (29.5 percent,) and he scored 1.08 ppp. But on the Dallas Mavericks, Barnes isn’t going to be getting the wide-open jump shots he got on the Golden State Warriors, so he’s going to need to find other ways to get off efficient looks at the basket.

He has shown an excellent understanding of reading the defense and knowing when to run to the rim in order to get an easy basket (scored 1.19 points per possession as a cutter.) He also did a good job scoring out off the post (0.91 ppp) and scoring as the roll man when setting screens (0.95 ppp.)

But his biggest improvements came scoring as the pick and roll ball-handler (0.94 ppp) and scoring in isolation situations (0.82 ppp which was actually better then Klay Thompson.) So despite his not so stellar handles, Harrison does find ways to score one on one.

Over the last couple of seasons, Harrison’s role reduced somewhat on the Golden State Warriors. With the star talent they possess he wasn’t needed to do a lot offensively. So instead, he was asked to put forth a greater focus on the defensive end of the floor. And he showed that he was up to the task.

Next to Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes was the third best defender on the team. Although he wasn’t and still isn’t known to most to be a defensive stopper, Harrison has shown that he is one of the best defenders at his position. That’s why the Warriors had the confidence in him to guard stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kawhi Leonard.

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    • If he wasn’t able to hold is own against star-studded talent like that, the Warriors wouldn’t have played Barnes on them. But they did just that, because he has shown he has the talent to do so.

    Last season, Harrison Barnes was one of the best pick and roll defenders on the team, allowing ball-handlers to score only 0.71 points per possession. The energy he brings on the defensive end of the floor is what get’s him through any screens set; because Barnes refuses to let up when he gets caught on a pick. So when his man get’s open after the screen, Harrison does a excellent job recovering and getting back in front of him.

    As an isolation defender, Barnes gave up 0.82 points per possession, which isn’t great. But when taking into consideration he was defending one of the best offensive players on the opposing team almost every game, his numbers start to look better.

    However, Harrison was in the 14.3 percentile in defending the spot-up, allowing a dreadful 1.14 points per possession. But he recovered with his exceptional post defense, allowing opponents to score only 0.72 points per possessions, putting him in the 82.9 percentile.

    So Harrison Barnes has shown off a nice skill set as a true two-way talent at both forward positions. Yet, that isn’t enough for the Dallas Mavericks, as they’ll need Barnes to take the next step in his development as a player.

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    He has shown in spurts the type of talent he possesses, but now it’s about bringing it day in and day out. If he can do just that, the Mavericks might have found their future star.

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