Harrison Barnes' deserved extended stay would come with one massive caveat

San Antonio stumbled upon the most perfect role player they've had in a long time. Harrison Barnes just helped the Spurs beat Golden State after a thrilling game that Dub City needed to win. The former Warrior continued his hot shooting with no shot bigger than the game-winning bucket that swished through the net as time expired at the Chase Center in San Francisco, California.

It was an appropriate finish after the Warriors came to San Antonio and embarrassed the Silver and Black on their home floor. Steph Curry and company smacked the Spurs by 42 points—the largest loss of the season.

The guys didn't have anything to play for other than pride. Yet they showed up and delivered a memorable performance led by Stephon Castle (21 pts) and Keldon Johnson (21 pts). Barnes, however, did what he's done all season—hoop—and that's what makes him great for this team. But great evolves to perfect if he's willing to make a major adjustment in the coming years.

Barnes will need to get ready for a bench role

HB has one more year on his deal after this season is over. It can be advantageous to extend guys early sometimes, but that's not necessarily the case here. Barnes will be 33 in May, which means he'd be 34 heading into free agency. That's still young enough to command a respectable deal and start in the league, mostly for stars, but it's right on the edge of those things for a role player.

Sure, he'll still be able to knock down threes and play the savvy offensive basketball that Spurs fans have grown to love this year, but the defense will become more of a concern. Big men are getting more athletic and versatile, so it will become more difficult for Barnes to defend them as his lateral foot speed diminishes.

He's also not much of a rebounder and San Antonio will need someone starting next to Victor Wembanyama who can share that load. The Spurs were a better rebounding team when Jeremy Sochan started next to Wembanyama, but obviously, the offense was more inconsistent.

Sochan is still only in his third season so he has plenty of time to grow his offensive game. If he can become a league-average three-point shooter, his defense and rebounding would demand that he start games for the Silver and Black. They could even put a package together for a guy like Cam Johnson who would be just as deadly from outside as Barnes but much younger.

It's not like the Spurs won't still need shooters on their bench, so he could still play his fair share of minutes in the second unit. But if they're going to start competing with OKC and, eventually, a team like Boston, they're going to need to be dynamic on both sides of the ball at pretty much every position. That would require a reshuffling of the rotation as Barnes entered his 15th season.

To be clear, the point that I'm conveying isn't an insult. Good teams need good players coming off of their bench if they want to compete for titles. The hope is that San Antonio would be ready to make a run by then, so HB would be more important at that time than ever before in a Silver and Black uniform. Hopefully, he would feel the same way.