Comfortable Harrison Barnes ready to lead young Mavericks’ rebirth

Change has come and will continue for the young Dallas Mavericks, who begin their 38th NBA season on Wednesday by hosting the Atlanta Hawks at the American Airlines Center.

Wednesday also marks the transition of sorts between the team’s all-time leading scorer, Dirk Nowitzki, and his potential heir-apparent to the scorer’s role in forward Harrison Barnes.

After a 5-2 preseason run, the regular-season begins with the confidence that Barnes might be the guy to build the franchise around for the long term.

The 6-foot-8 Barnes spent four seasons in Golden State and won one title before signing a four-year, $94 million free agent contract with the Mavericks in 2016. In Golden State, Barnes was the fourth option, at best, behind Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

A year ago, the former North Carolina standout was struggling to find some consistency and rhythm with his perimeter shooting and new injury-plagued team. As a result, the Mavericks had to lean more on aging superstar Nowitzki, who had even pitched the idea of coming off the bench last season.

“I think we’re a more confident group that’s been together now a little bit longer,” Barnes said. “Last season, we were just relying on the fact that we were veterans, looking at that to propel us forward and we saw early on that it didn’t work very well.”

Dallas began the 2016 season with a record of 2-13 and a locker room that looked more like a MASH unit.

Shooting woes helped suck the life out the offense and that led to an 0-5 start.

During that run, Barnes had scoring games of 19, 31, 10, 14 and 17 points. But he had a plus/minus of -5.2, meaning the Mavericks were outscored by at least five points when he was on the court.

He would finish the season averaging 19.2 points and shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 35.1 percent from 3-point territory.

However, Barnes has looked more comfortable as a leader and scorer during the preseason.

In limited minutes, Barnes has averaged 16 points per game, with a game-high 24 against the Charlotte Hornets last week. He shot 50 percent from the field during the preseason as the team went 5-2.

Barnes is surrounded by a good mixture of young talent such as dynamic rookie and ninth overall draft pick Dennis Smith Jr., second-year guard Yogi Ferrell and center Nerlens Noel, who is starting his second season in Dallas and just his fifth in the league. Noel was acquired from Philadelphia at the trade deadline. He played in 22 games with the Mavericks.

“This year it’s just much different, we’re younger and younger guys have more confidence because they got to play last year,” head coach Rick Carlisle said.

But Carlisle cautioned, “It means nothing because you can’t take anything for granted, things can change so quickly.”

Then there’s Nowitzki, who is starting his 20th NBA season. Nowitzki averaged 14.4 points and 6.5 rebounds last season despite missing more than 20 early-season games with an Achilles injury.

“We’re a little deeper than we were last year,” Nowitzki said.

Dallas clawed its way out of a 2-13 start and tried to make a late playoff run, but eventually wilted to finish 33-49 and out of the postseason for the second time in the past 17 seasons.

“The transition to a new team and new city is always challenging,” Barnes said. “So I’m more comfortable, more acclimated and know what to expect from myself.”

Late last season, the Mavericks were 28-36 at one point and in a battle for the last playoff spot in the rugged Western Conference. Barnes was shooting nearly 48 percent from the field.

However, it was too little, too late as Portland took the eighth and final spot away from Denver, New Orleans and Dallas.

“It’s still going to be rough to get into the playoffs in the West,” Nowitzki said. “I think if we’re healthy and playing well, we have a good shot at getting in.”

Barnes’ positive play hopefully carries over to this season, particularly early. The Mavericks can’t afford another slow start.

Five of their first eight games are at home. The order includes Atlanta, Sacramento, at Houston, Golden State, Memphis, at Memphis, Philadelphia and at Utah.

“We’ve got another tough schedule early and it’s easy to fall off the table if you’re not prepared,” Carlisle.

This story was originally published October 17, 2017 at 11:21 AM with the headline "Comfortable Harrison Barnes ready to lead young Mavericks’ rebirth."