Fansided

Harrison Barnes throws down baseline reverse slam

By Gerald Bourguet

Mar 27, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes (40) moves to the basket past Oklahoma City Thunder forward Andre Roberson (21) during the first quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 27, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Harrison Barnes (40) moves to the basket past Oklahoma City Thunder forward Andre Roberson (21) during the first quarter at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Harrison Barnes made an All-NBA defender look foolish Monday night, going baseline for a reverse slam for the Dallas Mavericks.

Remember Harrison Barnes?

You might recognize him as the guy whose horrid shooting contributed to the Golden State Warriors’ 3-1 NBA Finals collapse last season. You might also remember him by the massive four-year, $94 million deal that everyone ridiculed the Dallas Mavericks for giving him over the summer.

Or, if you’ve actually been watching the Mavs this season, you might know him as a legitimately talented two-way player with a still-expanding skill set at age 24.

Monday night in a home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Barnes provided yet another reminder of why his future is still bright, taking Andre Roberson — a very good defender — off the dribble toward the baseline and capping the move off with a sweet reverse slam:

People bag on Roberson’s inability to shoot, but that’s an All-NBA defender Barnes just made look foolish. At the break, Dallas also led OKC 50-35 behind seven points on 3-of-6 shooting from their young small forward.

While Harry B was easy to make fun of for being the weakest link with the 73-win Warriors, he’s been legitimately good for an admittedly subpar Mavericks team this season. He may not be a worthy heir to a player of Dirk Nowitzki’s caliber, but he’s done his best to pick up the torch nevertheless.

So far this season, Barnes is averaging a career-high 19.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game while shooting 47 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from deep. He’s no longer benefitting from the wide open looks he feasted on with the Warriors, which explains the drop in his 3-point efficiency, but Barnes has become a tough one-on-one player under head coach Rick Carlisle.

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The Mavericks may not make the playoffs this year, but it’s finally starting to look like they have a plan for the post-Dirk era. Between Barnes, Nerlens Noel, Seth Curry and Yogi Ferrell, this team finally has some promising young players to groom moving forward.

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