Where is Harrison Barnes?

Harrison Barnes has been a non-factor, for the most part, as of late for the Golden State Warriors.

The Golden State Warriors are looking to make history, largely based on the abilities of Stephen Curry.

Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were both named All-Stars this year and Andrew Bogut is playing his best basketball as a Warrior. The fifth starter, Harrison Barnes, is in a contract year and is nowhere to be found.

This is Barnes’ second year starting after being benched in favor of Golden State’s big offseason acquisition, Andre Iguodala. He struggled as the primary offensive option and was placed back in the starting lineup so he could help the team as an effective tertiary offensive weapon.

Barnes is averaging more points per game this season, but he’s regressed from last year. It’s evident in the numbers and through the eye test. Barnes’ “specialty” is as a three-and-D type of player. He’s not expected to make plays like Curry or Green and Steve Kerr won’t run many plays for him like Thompson, but he’s supposed to seize the opportunities he is given. When the ball finds him in the corner, he should hit his threes.

The small forward shot over 40 percent from deep last year as he turned the corner three into a high-percentage shot. This season he’s down to just 37 percent, just above Iguodala and Marreese Speights.

In fairness, Curry’s heroics sometimes overshadow everyone else. Even for NBA players, a diminutive guard striping it regularly from 30 feet is awe-inspiring. It’s important to note that Curry doesn’t necessarily want to take over like he has, but rather he needs to. The team has struggled over the last few weeks yet the MVP has continually bailed them out time after time. He takes over when no one else is producing.

While the drop in play has been team wide, it is most evident in Barnes’ game. In eight of his last nine games, he’s failed to knock down a three-pointer. As someone who’s primary offensive responsibility is to convert those shots, that’s unacceptable.

Beyond the struggles from deep, Barnes is missing an alarming amount of layups. Last season, he made 69 percent of his layup attempts at the rim. This year? Just 41 percent of his layups. As of late, it’s been a glaring problem as he’s been missing plenty of wide open ones.

Barnes has a tendency to just disappear. He isn’t necessarily doing anything bad, he just isn’t doing anything at all. He runs up to one side of the court and then runs back to the other side. Occasionally he flies in for an impressive offensive rebound, but generally he just goes through the motions.

With Iguodala sidelined for the foreseeable future, Barnes needs to snap out of it and produce. For the Warriors’ sake and for his contract negotiations’ sake.