{"id":714407,"date":"2026-04-20T04:46:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T04:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714407\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T04:46:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T04:46:44","slug":"former-warriors-champion-could-be-axed-from-playoff-rotation-after-opening-dud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/714407\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Warriors champion could be axed from playoff rotation after opening dud"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5n\">The Golden State Warriors let Harrison Barnes walk to sign Kevin Durant in 2016, and now the San Antonio Spurs may boot the 6\u20197 forward from their rotation. Barnes played just 11 minutes off the bench in their playoff opening win over the Blazers, and it didn\u2019t go great. The veteran is clearly behind Keldon Johnson, Luke Kornet, and Dylan Harper, which means his days in the playoff rotation are numbered. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5q\">Barnes was drafted by the Warriors in 2012 and was a starter on the 2015 championship squad. The NBA\u2019s cap spiked a year later, and Golden State couldn\u2019t pass up the chance to add KD. It meant <a href=\"https:\/\/andscape.com\/features\/harrison-barnes-says-decision-to-leave-the-warriors-was-more-so-made-for-me\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">showing Barnes the door<\/a>, but there should be no regrets. The Warriors won three more titles and went into dynasty status after acquiring Durant. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5t\">Barnes has bounced around since, but is back in the playoffs with the Spurs. Fans have seen their rise this season, but it has coincided with a decline from the 33-year-old. His minutes decreased every month, except for a slight uptick in April. Since Jan. 1, Barnes has averaged only 23.1 minutes per game, and the Game 1 win further proved he is heading down the Spurs\u2019 depth chart. <\/p>\n<p>Harrison Barnes could get axed from Spurs playoff rotation after Game 1<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5z\">The veteran finished with two points and one rebound in 11 minutes. He missed his only two field goal attempts. If it wasn\u2019t for two made free throws, Barnes would have been held scoreless in a playoff game for the first time since his Golden State days. Warriors fans likely haven\u2019t forgotten his scoreless Game 6 in the 2016 NBA Finals. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"62\">The Spurs&#8217; starting five all played over 30 minutes in the Game 1 win over Portland, despite San Antonio not being in danger of losing. Mitch Johnson has Harper and Keldon to turn to off the bench. When he cuts the rotation, Barnes and Carter Bryant are on the chopping block. The Spurs will play eight in the biggest games, and the former Warriors forward isn\u2019t making the cut. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"65\">Golden State fans know that Barnes is a plus scorer and floor spacer. San Antonio may need the shooting, but this playoff run isn\u2019t just about the now. The Spurs are trying to build a title contender for the next 15 years around Victor Wembanyama. Barnes doesn\u2019t fit into those long-term plans, which is why he isn\u2019t long for the rotation in the Alamo. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"68\">The Warriors can\u2019t talk after losing in the Play-In Tournament. Doubt Stephen Curry <a href=\"https:\/\/bluemanhoop.com\/doubts-stephen-curry-look-foolish-continue-miss-mark\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">at your own risk<\/a>, but the Golden State must improve the roster around him to get back into contention. It is a crucial offseason that involves a <a href=\"https:\/\/bluemanhoop.com\/kristaps-porzingis-warriors-free-agency-warning\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">difficult Kristaps Porzingis decision<\/a>. The pressure is on for the Dubs to nail it. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6b\">Warriors fans should tune in for Game 2 of Spurs versus Blazers if they want to see Harrison Barnes play. He won a ring in Golden State. If he is going to get a second one, Barnes will be watching from the bench. The Spurs can\u2019t just get two points and nothing else from a score-first player. HB is declining, and head coach Mitch Johnson will have no choice but to bench him when the series gets tight. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6e\">Golden State Warriors supporters can\u2019t be shocked. Harrison Barnes has been slowly declining for years, and the Spurs are a legit threat to win it all. That means doing whatever is necessary, including axing a veteran like Barnes from the rotation. It is coming, so stay tuned.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow bluemanhoop.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=bluemanhoop.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Golden State Warriors let Harrison Barnes walk to sign Kevin Durant in 2016, and now the San&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3786],"tags":[7,479,164,4025,4024,6,255],"class_list":{"0":"post-714407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golden-state-warriors","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-golden-state","10":"tag-golden-state-warriors","11":"tag-goldenstate","12":"tag-goldenstatewarriors","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-warriors"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116435225780961616","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}