Miami Heat: Harrison Barnes could be an unlikely offseason gem
Harrison Barnes could be a fit for the Miami Heat.
With improving the roster at the forefront of their offseason goals, the Miami Heat will have their work cut out for them over the next few weeks. Even though they don’t currently own a draft pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, it wouldn’t be surprising if we saw a busy Heat front office begin to put in the work this week.
That said, the majority of the work that the Heat needs to do will take place either via trade or when free agency opens. Apart from having to carve out a plan for their own free agents, Miami will have space to pursue one of the big-name free agents that are set to hit the open market.
Although, in addition to free agency, it wouldn’t be surprising if this team didn’t attempt to make a trade or two to continue to build around Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
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One interesting fit that could emerge as an unlikely offseason gem is Harrison Barnes, who according to a recent report could hit the trade market.
Harrison Barnes has been a productive player in the right role
After a somewhat disappointing stint with North Carolina in college, after being a highly touted college player, Barnes has been a productive player in the NBA. He’s played important roles on the championship Golden State Warriors and has been nothing but professional during his stops with the Dallas Mavericks and now with the Sacramento Kings.
Even though Barnes never developed into the potential star that some hoped he would, he has been a valuable two-way player through 10 years in the NBA. Even on the lowly Kings, Barnes is coming off a season in which he averaged 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists 50 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from 3-point range.
If the Kings are looking to turn the page on Barnes, he could emerge as a fit for a team that’s looking for a wing that can play all over the floor – including the small-ba 4. In other words, he could be exactly what the Miami Heat is looking for as a frontcourt mate for Bam during the offseason.
While there’s a line of thinking that the Heat should be looking for a true 5 and let Bam play the 4 more prominently, I’m not so sure that’s exactly Erik Spoelstra’s style. He loves the positionless pace-and-space basketball and Barnes would fit right in defensively and would help space the floor for Jimmy and Bam.
Plus acquiring Barnes via trade would also allow the Heat to still pursue a big-name free agent (if they are about to do it beforehand). If the Heat could add a three-level scoring guard while also finding an answer to their frontcourt next to Jimmy and Bam, the Heat would emerge from the offseason as huge winners.
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Individually, adding Barnes alone doesn’t make the most sense. If Miami can only solve one issue this offseason, it certainly has to come in the way of a primary scorer that can play next to Jimmy and Bam. If the Heat is able to solve two issues that plagued them last season, it would be a dream offseason come true.