[Mick]

Finals choke job aside, both of them have been truly valuable players for the Warriors in the past few years.  Barnes has been an essential part of the small ball line ups in that he can defend well, (usually) shoots pretty well, and can occasionally create his own shot when the splash brothers are struggling.  Obviously if we can get Durant, thats a of exceedingly large proportions upgrade so so long Barnes, but if we can't Barnes choke job may have done us a favor in lowering his price.

Barnes benefits from a fully functioning lineup that includes a healthy Curry, Thompson, Bogut and Green.  That's what he had during the season and he pumped in 3's at a rate virtually identical to Green's, although his rebounds were about 60% of Green's.  Barnes doesn't like to mix it up, and my sense is that he can get intimidated.

Barnes asked for four years at $72 million $18 million a year.  We can get (I think) Durant for the max, which is $25 million per year.  Here's the thing...Curry has far less than the max and Green has less than the max.  Ego-wise, it would be foolish to add either Barnes or Ezeli at or close to the max because they are so flawed as players, whereas giving the max to Durant is fine and perfectly acceptable. 

For Ezeli it is true that I feel he hurt the W's much more then he helped in the finals.  I blame Kerr for this mostly, who kept putting him out there (maybe without much choice given how banged up Iguodala was). However, I feel that having a good defensive center is key for the Warriors to get through the 82 game regular season.  It has to be taxing for everyone in the all small ball lineups to guard men larger then themselves, but Green especially gets a tough job in guarding opposing 5s. 

Bogut is a terrific shot blocker, a solid rebounder, a great passer and a good screen setter.  He is not a defensive genius, but certainly good enough.  I hope they pick a good defensive center in the draft, they certainly want a rotation player.

I'm also no cap expert, but remember that in Basketball, it is much easier to retain your own players then try to acquire free agents once you're over the cap, which the Warriors certainly are. There may be no easy way to replace Barnes or Ezeli with players of similar quality on the free agent market, especially given how the Warriors have helped set up a high$ market for players who can shoot and play defense.

They would have to get rid of either Bogut or Iguodala, and Barnes, so there's that.

This is the best article to read on the subject:
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/20...9326171875

[Mick]

Finals choke job aside, both of them have been truly valuable players for the Warriors in the past few years.  Barnes has been an essential part of the small ball line ups in that he can defend well, (usually) shoots pretty well, and can occasionally create his own shot when the splash brothers are struggling.  Obviously if we can get Durant, thats a of exceedingly large proportions upgrade so so long Barnes, but if we can't Barnes choke job may have done us a favor in lowering his price.

Barnes benefits from a fully functioning lineup that includes a healthy Curry, Thompson, Bogut and Green.  That's what he had during the season and he pumped in 3's at a rate virtually identical to Green's, although his rebounds were about 60% of Green's.  Barnes doesn't like to mix it up, and my sense is that he can get intimidated.

Barnes asked for four years at $72 million $18 million a year.  We can get (I think) Durant for the max, which is $25 million per year.  Here's the thing...Curry has far less than the max and Green has less than the max.  Ego-wise, it would be foolish to add either Barnes or Ezeli at or close to the max because they are so flawed as players, whereas giving the max to Durant is fine and perfectly acceptable. 

For Ezeli it is true that I feel he hurt the W's much more then he helped in the finals.  I blame Kerr for this mostly, who kept putting him out there (maybe without much choice given how banged up Iguodala was). However, I feel that having a good defensive center is key for the Warriors to get through the 82 game regular season.  It has to be taxing for everyone in the all small ball lineups to guard men larger then themselves, but Green especially gets a tough job in guarding opposing 5s. 

Bogut is a terrific shot blocker, a solid rebounder, a great passer and a good screen setter.  He is not a defensive genius, but certainly good enough.  I hope they pick a good defensive center in the draft, they certainly want a rotation player.

I'm also no cap expert, but remember that in Basketball, it is much easier to retain your own players then try to acquire free agents once you're over the cap, which the Warriors certainly are. There may be no easy way to replace Barnes or Ezeli with players of similar quality on the free agent market, especially given how the Warriors have helped set up a high$ market for players who can shoot and play defense.

They would have to get rid of either Bogut or Iguodala, and Barnes, so there's that.

This is the best article to read on the subject:
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/20...9326171875