NBA Rookie Draft Ranking and Fantasy Outlook: Harrison Barnes
Jul 2, 2012 Small Forward Updates
The Golden State Warriors selected SF Harrison Barnes with the seventh pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
Barnes’ career stats at North Carolina:
75 Games, 16.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, .9 steals, .4 blocks, 43.0 FG%, 73.5 FT%
Fantasy Advice: The Warriors already have Dorell Wright and Richard Jefferson at small forward, but the lure of Harrison Barnes was just too much for Golden State to pass up at number seven. There’s a good chance the Warriors will probably trade Dorell Wright soon, so Barnes could luck into some decent minutes.
Barnes is a pure scorer with an excellent spot up perimeter shooting game. I’ve seen people comparing his game to the type of games that Danny Granger and Rudy Gay play. He took 5.3 threes a game in his freshman season, hitting 34.4 % of them and then followed that up with 3.6 attempts per game as a sophomore, converting 35.8% of them. He’s not great driving to the basket, but he can do it. With North Carolina’s huge frontcourt, he wasn’t asked to do much rebounding, so it remains to be seen how he’ll fare rebounding in the NBA.
He should provide solid defense from the small forward spot and grab a least a steal per game for fantasy owners. His biggest fantasy benefit should be his scoring and three point ability. However, the risk for Barnes is that his name is way more valuable to fantasy drafters than his actual game. Barnes has been a star since high school and a name that most college basketball fans instantly recognize. When determining his draft round, just be sure that you are drafting the actual player, not the name.