Harrison Barnes wants to remain with the Golden State Warriors for the foreseeable future, and they want to keep him as well. Barnes is eligible for a contract extension this offseason as a member of the 2012 NBA Draft class, and the two sides have been negotiating a deal. The two sides have until the season starts, Oct. 31, to work out a deal, and they may be making progress, but Barnes reportedly rejected the Warriors' most recent offer, according to Adrien Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
The initial offer from the Warriors to Barnes was reportedly four years and $64 million which comes out to $16 million per year. That figure is almost the exact amount that Draymond Green received in his recent contract extension, but Barnes clearly feels he is worth more. The $64 million offer is now being thought of as a starting point in negotiations for an extension, and they will continue to work towards a deal in the next month.
If Barnes and the Warriors don't agree to a deal by Oct. 31 he will play out this year while making more than $5 million and become a restricted free agent next summer. If it comes to the point where Barnes becomes a restricted free agent the Warriors would still have the advantage to re-sign him as they could match any offer but it means other teams could set the market for him and with another good year he may command max money.
Of note in these negotiations is the fact that Barnes has recently switched agents. The former UNC Tar Heel was represented by Jeff Wechsler previously who had negotiated the number up to $16 million per year, but he has since changed to Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports. Schwartz will now be in charge of negotiating Barnes' first big NBA deal in which it seems he wants max money or something very close to it.
Barnes is just 23 years old and is coming off his best NBA season as he averaged 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 48 percent from the field and 41 percent from three. All of those numbers were career highs for Barnes which has him in a great position to negotiate a new contract.
