Will Barton wants to remain with Nuggets past current contract: "Denver gave me a chance to play"

BOULDER, Colo. — Denver Nuggets guard Will Barton said after practice Wednesday that he wants to remain with the Nuggets after his current contract expires following the 2017-18 season.

“Yeah, I could see that,” Barton said on day two of training camp, when asked if he could envision himself in Denver long-term. “I came here and Denver gave me a chance to play so that’s always in the back of my mind, wanting to stay here and see how far we can take it. We’re getting better year in and year out so I’d love to be a part of that.”

After the Nuggets acquired Barton from the Trail Blazers in the middle of the 2014-15 season, the 6-foot-6 wing, who hadn’t played a significant role in Portland’s rotation, quickly established himself as one of the league’s premier sixth men and averaged 14.4 points in nearly 29 minutes per game during his first season in Denver.

Last year, Barton averaged 13.7 points and 4.3 rebounds across 60 games (19 starts). The 26-year-old played a variety of roles with Denver from point guard, to shooting guard and even some small forward when injuries sidelined members of the Nuggets’ starting lineup.

“I’m just a multi (dimensional) guy. I think I’m very versatile. It really doesn’t matter,” Barton said when asked what position he prefers to play. “I just want to be on the court, do whatever coach needs me to do, whatever the team needs me to do for us to win games. If coach needs me to play backup one, two, three whatever, start, come off the bench, whatever he needs me to do I’m just trying to embrace my role and do it to the best of my abilities.”

If Barton and his agent want to work out a contract with Denver (which can be completed anytime before June 30), he is not able to sign an extension for more than 120 percent of his current contract, or 120 percent of the Estimated Average Player Salary, which is roughly $7,843,500 per year since he’s not coming off of his rookie deal. If Barton chooses to work out an extension with Denver, a four-year contract would come out to roughly $42.1 million.

Barton is entering the final season of a three-year $10.6 million contract that he signed in 2015. He’s is set to make $3.5 million this season.

“I pretty much let my agent handle that through the front office and he relays that back to me and we take it from there,” Barton said. “I just want to be focused on getting better everyday seeing this team grow, see myself grow. Right now I’m just focused on getting better and just winning games getting better in training camp and doing what I got to do to see this team take it to the next level. The rest of that stuff will take care of itself.”