According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Golden State Warriors have offered small forward Harrison Barnes a four-year, 64 million dollar contract extension. The third-year veteran reportedly rejected the offer as he is looking for a more sizable one. However, according to Wojnarowski, the deal is just the beginning of contract negotiations between the two sides.
Barnes rejecting this offer is somewhat surprising, to say the least. While the forward has had some success in his first three years in the league, and shows signs of a high ceiling, it’s hard to imagine him getting anything more than $16 million per year (a figure very similar to what teammate Draymond Green received.) Nevertheless, with the impending rise in salary cap, Barnes and his agent must feel that they have the opportunity to net a bigger return than what the Warriors are offering.
Should the two sides fail to reach an offer by October 31st, Harrison Barnes will become an unrestricted free agent next summer and be able to sign with any team of his choosing. Golden State must worry about losing a young member of a championship team while also considering having to pay multiple elite players top money. These contract talks are worth keeping an eye on.
