Kevin Durant decided to sign with the Golden State Warriors on July 4th, which is good for all parties except for one: Harrison Barnes. Barnes is the former starting small forward for the Warriors, and as soon as Durant joined the Warriors, it was clear that Barnes would not be coming back.
Barnes isn’t bitter about what happened, but he did joke about it in an interview with Marcus Thompson II of Mercury News:
It took coach Steve Kerr to go off script and interrupt the end of Durant’s introductory news conference, thanking the departed Warriors, for Barnes to be remembered.
“I guess I died,” Barnes said with a shoulder shrug, before breaking into a smile. He then explained why he was prepared for his departure.
“Dwight trade rumors. Kevin Love trade rumors. Kevin Durant … oh, that one happened. There’s been a few instances where you consider what might happen. I was just more so glad to be there as long as I was.”
Barnes was a key piece in two straight Finals appearances for the Warriors, and he was probably pretty upset that his time was up in Golden State. He did pretty well though, as he got a max contract from the Dallas Mavericks. The only issue is that he will not be in contention for a championship this year like he would have been with the Warriors, which is definitely a downside.
