On Saturday night, the Miami Heat finally got a much needed win against the Sacramento Kings, 104-105. Even though it was against Sacramento, they are a challenging team to beat because they are a fast team that likes to push the pace with De’Aaron Fox, who went for 30 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds.
No one on the Miami squad could stay in front of Fox. Miami got a win though and that is what is important.
While watching the game I had an “aha” moment. That thought was Harrison Barnes being Miami’s starting four man.
Could the Miami Heat make a run at Sacramento forward, Harrison Barnes?
This year, the Miami Heat have had to deal with Covid and injury’s, so it’s hard to really have a pulse on this year’s team. Miami has a hard time rebounding and defending the three point line, so not that Barnes would help with defending there specifically and even though he is an above average defender at the same time, Barnes would be an upgrade over Kelly Olynyk.
Lately, I have been giving Olynyk a hard time but after almost four years with Miami, enough is enough. For me with Olynyk, it’s him on defense not boxing and especially being darn near seven feet tall, he does not act like it.
I get that it’s not Olynyk’s game, banging down there but when he doesn’t put a body on anyone and the other team gets a rebound over him, I cant take it anymore. Again, Barnes wont fix the rebounding but what Barnes will do is shoot 52.0% from the corner.
In Miami’s motion offense, the more spacing is obviously better and especially from the corner, hence a recent piece of mine about a potential PJ Tucker move. Like I’ve said before, Miami needs to find someone who can play the four for them and Barnes would fit that role nicely.
Barnes can put the ball on the floor a little bit as well too so he isn’t as one dimensional as people might like to think. Personally, I think Barnes has been a little underrated since he left Golden State.
Another thing about Barnes is that he is bigger then you think. He’s actually a true 6’8″ and comes in weighing a compact 225 pounds.
Now, I know Barnes has had an up and down playoff career but its something Miami should look at. If Miami can get Barnes at the right price, I think it is something for them to definitely look further into.
Barnes, who has two years left on his current deal at a total of $38 million, doesn’t have the most awful contract and Miami could make a decent offer. Barnes wont fix everything for Miami but it would be another decent defender that Miami desperately needs in their starting lineup.
They need to get fully healthy first to really see what this team is made of but I would still like to see them make a move for a big or small-ball guy at the four position, where I feel they need a better sense of consistency in the play.