Barnes re-signs with Warriors

[VF21]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...LYF?slug=ap-warriors-barnes&prov=ap&type=lgns

Golden State re-signs forward Matt Barnes
August 6, 2007

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Forward Matt Barnes re-signed with the Golden State Warriors on Monday, agreeing to a one-year deal after enjoying his best NBA season with the club last year.

Barnes, a four-year veteran who has played for five teams, had career-best averages of 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season in coach Don Nelson's uptempo offense.

He also made headlines with his energetic play, a mohawk haircut and a tattoo reading "Believe" -- especially while the Warriors upset top-seeded Dallas and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.

"I am really excited to be back with the Warriors," Barnes said. "As I've said all along, this was my first choice and the place that I wanted to continue my career. I really enjoy playing for this team, and feel very comfortable with the entire organization."

Barnes shopped his services to several teams as a free agent, but couldn't find a lucrative deal despite changing agents twice. His contract with Golden State is expected to be worth slightly more than $3 million -- the remainder of the Warriors' mid-level salary cap exemption.

"He was a key contributor to our success last season, and we anticipate that he will play a vital role with our club again during the upcoming season," said Chris Mullin, the Warriors' executive vice president of basketball operations. "The intangibles that he provides our team -- energy, hustle and effort -- are a tribute to his work ethic and have certainly aided his development as a player. Plus, he is a very good fit for our team."

 

[PurpleHaze]

Matt Barnes now has a chance to really shine with GSW now that he's resigned and J-Rich is gone. Certainly he'll be in store for really big free agent contract after next season if he performs well. But now Warriors fans are buzzing about new sensation Marco Benelli who Barnes may have to compete with for starting role and minutes. Benelli's game is said to be very similar to the Spurs Manu Ginobili.

 

[Bricklayer]

Matt Barnes now has a chance to really shine with GSW now that he's resigned and J-Rich is gone. Certainly he'll be in store for really big free agent contract after next season if he performs well. But now Warriors fans are buzzing about new sensation Marco Benelli who Barnes may have to compete with for starting role and minutes. Benelli's game is said to be very similar to the Spurs Manu Ginobili.

I saw vids of Bellenelli before the draft, and I really liked the kid. Extremely athletic for a Euro guard. And then he went out and tore up summer league. This would of course be one of the side benfits of Don Nelson -- there is not today, and frankly may NEVER have been, a better evaluator of small man talent in the NBA. He has drafted star after star at the 1/2/3 spots, and made the most of guys he's gotten in other ways (Steve Nash perhpas excepted).

That said -- Bellenelli is not going to be competing with Barnes for minutes. He's a 6'5" OG, even in Nellie's system, and the questions about him are sure to be physicality/defense. For Nellie, Matt is a freakin' PF. Matt's problem is Brandon Wright, and maybe Croshere if they sign him as rumored, and who knows what comes out of a potential Pietrus trade to Miami. And even with his success last year, you never know with Nellie. Roleplayer guys like Matt flare up and fade away all the time in his system. This is a sucky position to be in for Matt. Nellie loves to tinker, to trade, to experiment. And Matt is the sort of guy who could get lost, refound, relost again and again. And it could leave him no better off, or even worse off than he was this summer.

As an aside -- that article is B.S.. Matt was looking for a long term deal at the MLE. Nobody, including the Warriors, would give it to him. So he fired his second agent of the summer and slinked back inot town on a one year pity offer to try to drive things up next year. I;m sure hew wanted to come back to the Warriors, but he was looking for some security and $$$ for the first (and maybe only) time in his career. And he didn't get them. So now he's taking a hefty gamble (well not so hefty since there weren't many better offers on the table) to try to score that deal next summer. Might work, might blow up in his face and find him scrambling for a contract again next summer. But its hardly a happy day for him. Disappointing summer and he's still living year to year (on a paltry $3.5mil of course ).