Although the San Antonio Spurs are off to their best start in franchise history, they are still waiting for one of their key contributors to step up. 13-year NBA veteran Harrison Barnes has gotten off to a slow start to the season, playing poorly in preseason and mediocre in the first few games of the regular season.
To his credit, he did make several clutch plays against the New Orleans Pelicans in a tight win and had a big game against the Toronto Raptors, but outside of those games, his shot hasn't been falling enough. Odds are that his shooting numbers will improve to the mean, though he did shoot well over his career average from three last season.
He probably won't shoot 43% from three again this season, instead probably much closer to his 37% 3-point career average, but if he dips below that mark, then the Spurs may have to reconsider whether to start Barnes.
Who should the San Antonio Spurs start if not Harrison Barnes?
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Assuming that the Spurs' starting lineup will be De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Barnes, and Victor Wembanyama, the two most likely replacement options would be Julian Champagnie or Jeremy Sochan.
Champagnie shot lights out, going 19-30 from deep in the preseason, but has gotten off to a slow start from outside in the regular season. Even so, he is a career 37% shooter, so he's bound to come. Having him continue to start, simply by sliding him up and playing the four, makes sense given that he is one of the best shooters on the team.
He is also 6-8, and while not built like Barnes or even Sochan, there aren't a lot of teams that start a bruising forward who can attack Champagnie. Even if they do, the Spurs could go with Sochan or Luke Kornet to start. Speaking of our Polish Prince, [Sochan should be the heir apparent](https://airalamo.com/jeremy-sochan-extension-nightmare-awaits-spurs) to the Spurs' starting power forward role.
The Spurs have other options, but still need Harrison Barnes
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Sochan has missed the preseason and all of the regular season thus far. The jury is also still out on whether he has learned to shoot, and with Wembanyama shooting far fewer threes, it's hard to justify him starting in the near future.
Kornet doesn't shoot from outside either—at least not anymore—but he and Wembanyama have shown better on-court chemistry than Sochan and Wembanyama have. The good news is the Spurs have several options to possibly replace Barnes if he doesn't play well this season.
The bad news is the Spurs need Barnes to play well this season, and he's due for a regression after playing over his head last season, not to mention he's 33 years old. To his credit, Barnes hasn't played on a team this talented in a decade.
And once San Antonio has all of its pieces, he could find ways to knock down threes and get to the rim and finish with those old-man YMCA hesitation drives. Considering the Spurs' lack of shooting, they need that version of Barnes. Otherwise, they may have to make a tough decision about whether to continue starting him.