Golden State Warriors: Why the Loss of Harrison Barnes Stings

October 7, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors small forward Harrison Barnes (40) controls the basketball during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Kings 94-81. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

According to many reports, Harrison Barnes is going to be missing the Golden State Warriors’ first couple of games because of his foot ailment. When he returns to the lineup, Klay Thompson is going to remain the starter. Interesting, but this is the right direction for the Warriors.

Barnes is without a doubt one of the most promising players in the league. In fact, he’s got the chance to win the Most Improved Player award because he will be receiving a lot more minutes this year than he did last year.

But the Warriors need him healthy for every single game.

His offensive prowess, cunning and quickness are indispensible. He knows how to play like a veteran and isn’t afraid to hit the big shot. Generally speaking, the Warriors have no one like him off the bench. Some may argue that Draymond Green has the same playing skills as Barnes, but we all know that this is an overstatement. Green is nowhere near Barnes in terms of explosiveness.

In Barnes, the Warriors are missing a solid 13 or 14 points from the bench. That is a huge hole that’s going to show up against a team like the Los Angeles Lakers. In case you didn’t catch their opener, their bench went berserk and led their team to a huge win over the Clippers, who are also a legitimate challenge to the Warriors.

After playing the Lakers at home, they will have to get on the plane and fly down to Los Angeles to face their familiar foes. It’s going to be an intense game and the Warriors need all the firepower they can get, especially because the Clippers have plenty of it. It’s going to be interesting to see how Mark Jackson handles this type of thing. We’re going to see a lot of different rotations for the Dubs, trying to find some successful combinations that don’t include the starting unit.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, about five of these combos are taken away with Barnes’s injury. He is a crucial part to the Warriors offense and can provide them with an additional spark right off the bench. In his absence, who’s going to do that? Quite frankly, the Warriors have no other scorers off the bench. Rather, their second unit is all for defensive purposes.