NBA: Power ranking the 30 projected starting small forwards on each team

The wing position in the NBA is still deeply strong.

2024 NBA Finals - Game Five
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23. Harrison Barnes, San Antonio Spurs

At 32 years old, Harrison Barnes is probably on the downturn of his prime as he makes the jump to the San Antonio Spurs. But for such a young team, there's reason to believe that Barnes could be a valuable player heading into this season. Barnes may not be the versatile or shutdown defender he was earlier in his career, but he's still productive on that end of the floor as a wing. Plus, he's a career 38 percent shooter from deep. At the very least, he should translate as a strong veteran 3-and-D player for the Spurs this season.

Barnes has had a great career and should be a good veteran player that the young Spurs can learn from. For the better part of his 12-year career in the NBA, Barnes has been a consistent starter in the league. I'd expect that to continue to be the case for another few seasons.

That said, Barnes is probably a veteran stopgap for the Spurs at the position. He may not be considered one of the better starting small forwards in the league but that doesn't mean he still can't be an effective player for San Antonio.