Will Barton has steadily improved in each of his six NBA seasons and the 2017/18 campaign has been no different. The 27-year-old guard is averaging career-highs in PPG (15.0), APG (4.1), and MPG (32.6) for a Nuggets team that two games back of the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Barton will hit unrestricted free agency for the first in his career this summer. That gives the University of Memphis product a choice on where he can continue his career. If all goes according to plan, however, Barton will not leave the Mile High City and will continue his career with the Nuggets.
In an interview with Christopher Dempsey of Altitude Sports, Barton addressed his future and his plans for free agency. The veteran admits that he has become comfortable in Denver since being traded from the Trail Blazers to the Nuggets in February 2015, and does not want to leave the team and the city behind. Here are those comments and more from Barton:
On wanting to remain in Denver:
“My ultimate goal is to return to Denver. You know me, I’m a real loyal guy. I’m real big on that. They gave me a chance to really showcase what I could do. So, I would love to finish what I started here.”
Why he is comfortable with the Nuggets:
“I like Denver. It’s given me a good place to focus on my career, where I can just focus on basketball a lot. It’s great people there. A lot of food places, and it’s growing. Just like me, the city is growing. When I first got here it wasn’t that many people. Now, people are moving to Denver, so it’s cool.”
Where Barton has made the most significant improvement:
“You guys have watched my game really grow and evolve. And my playmaking ability, being able to now play multiple positions, (point guard) through (small forward). Just making better reads – everything just evolved.”
What he wants to improve on:
“Just to be more consistent on the defensive end, staying locked in. Staying disciplined on that end. And just keep being aggressive, keep being myself, knowing that teams are kind of game-planning and knowing my game. So, just reading defenses and seeing what they are giving me and making plays off of that.”
He’s gone. Not enough money to go around. Not with Milsap getting 29M.
Nuggets have his bird rights, which gives them the ability to go over the cap to re-sign him. They need to resign Jokic this summer too. If they miss the playoffs, the thought of approaching the luxury tax will probably mean Barton is out. Nuggets have a notoriously cheap owner