Report: Warriors proposed 4-year, $64 million contract extension to Harrison Barnes

A day ago, it was reported that Harrison Barnes had hired Jeff Schwartz shortly after parting ways with former agent Jeff Wechsler. Barnes, who had a strong season under Steve Kerr, is looking to cash in and hopefully secure a long-term deal with the Golden State Warriors.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Warriors proposed a 4-year, $64 million pact, which was rejected by Barnes.

The $16 million annual offer wasn’t accepted, but appears to be a starting point in talks that could last until the Oct. 31 deadline for rookie extensions. The Warriors are trying to prevent Barnes from reaching restricted free agency in July 2016, when a rising salary cap and scores of teams with financial flexibility will couple with Barnes' burgeoning talent and potential to make him a significant target on the market.

Golden State is doing the right thing by trying to lock up Barnes before he hits restricted free agency as a boatload of teams are capable of offering huge deals next summer. Early extensions have generally turned into reasonable deals and could also come in handy as potential (sign &) trade chips down the road.

Barnes played an efficient role as the starting small forward last season, averaging career bests of 10.1 points and 5.5 rebounds on 48% field goal percentage and 41% three-point percentage. In this era with the exploding cap, Barnes's value equates the extension the Warriors had offered.

With loads of money already tied to Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, Golden State must find wiggle room to fit Barnes before even factoring a new contract for Stephen Curry.