That’s why many observers were quick to deride the Mavericks this summer when they bestowed a four-year, $94 million contract — the most they could hand out — on Harrison Barnes, from whom the Warriors moved on as a restricted free agent to land Kevin Durant.

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It’s early yet, as last night’s 116-95 Warriors victory over the Mavericks at Oracle Arena — the first return for both Barnes and Andrew Bogut, another cap casualty from last season’s 73-win team — was just the eighth game of Dallas’s season. But the results so far are making the Mavericks look smart for betting a change of scenery could unlock some of Barnes’s untapped potential.

“He’s playing terrific,” Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle said before Barnes scored 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Wednesday night’s game. “The thing that I love most about him from a coaching standpoint, he’s everything you want in a foundation for a franchise.

“He lives in the gym. He wants to be really, really good. He studies the game, takes care of himself.”

No one ever questioned Barnes’s work ethic or dedication to his craft during his four years with the Warriors. But there always was a sense that the No. 7 pick in the 2012 NBA draft — a player who once was compared to a young Kobe Bryant in his formative basketball years, and then spent two years at North Carolina — would never quite be able to unlock the talent that seemed to lie within his body that appeared perfectly crafted to be an elite NBA wing player.

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Barnes became a crucial part of Golden State’s success the past two seasons because of his ability to do a little bit of everything — even if he wasn’t above average at any of them. His strength allowed him to play either forward spot, and in particular defend against bigger players in the low post, as he did notably against Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the 2015 playoffs. He also was a capable three-point shooter, making 40 percent of his triples in 2015 and 38 percent of them last season.

But after Barnes played a large role in Golden State’s collapse from a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals this past spring, going 5 for 32 overall and 3 for 15 from three-point range as the Warriors lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, his future with Golden State seemed murky, at best. When asked about Barnes before the start of the season, Warriors owner Joe Lacob repeatedly sidestepped a question about what the Warriors would have done if Durant hadn’t signed with Golden State in July.

The assumption is that Golden State would’ve matched any offer Barnes received had Durant gone elsewhere, allowing them to retain an asset instead of losing it for nothing. But Barnes was well aware of Golden State’s plans to chase Durant before free agency began, and everyone would’ve known the Warriors had attempted to upgrade on Barnes and failed if he returned.

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That didn’t happen, though, and with Durant in the fold, Barnes was guaranteed to be headed to Dallas to replace the departed Chandler Parsons — who Dallas chose not to re-sign for the same price because of his ongoing knee issues — as soon as he agreed to join the Mavericks in July.

And, despite a poor preseason, Barnes embraced the opportunity to become a building block in Dallas. He’s averaging 22.6 points on 49.3 percent shooting through the opening eight games of the season, and after working with former Providence star and New York City street ball legend God Shammgod — now a player development coach with the Mavericks — on his ball handling, he already looks more explosive getting to the rim than he ever did in Golden State.

“In the preseason, a lot of the shots I was missing were good shots,” Barnes said. “They were open … I just couldn’t throw it in the basket.

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“I felt confident that if I was still getting those looks in the regular season that I would be able to convert on them. So far, so good.”

Early returns, though, are encouraging. Barnes already has three 30-point games this season — including in both Dallas victories — after registering just one in his four years with the Warriors. And with Nowitzki sidelined because of Achilles’ soreness, Barnes shouldered the load of being the team’s No. 1 option while remaining relatively efficient.

After spending years in a complementary role with the Warriors — and also dealing with the insecurities that came with the status of being a top-10 pick while not producing to the same level that Draymond Green, a second rounder in the same draft did — Barnes looks much more comfortable and confident, albeit in a small sample size, in his new home.

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“He’s the number one, number two option,” Bogut said. “Simple as that. He’s getting volume touches. He’s obviously a player that has gotten confidence from coach.

“If you go 10 for 20 or 1 for 20, you’re going to get that 21st shot. When you get that confidence from the coach and the organization, it changes your mind-set.

“He’s our number one option right now and he’s playing phenomenal. He’s shouldering our scoring load and doing a great job. He was a [third, fourth, fifth, sixth] option at times with the Warriors.”

Despite the positive start, Barnes still has plenty of work to do to convince his skeptics that he’s capable of living up to the contract he was given to become a foundation piece in Dallas this summer. But if his early play is any indication, he has a better shot at doing so than most gave him credit for when the pen hit the paper a few months back.