Denver Nuggets breakout star Will Barton invited to compete in Slam Dunk Contest

Back on January 29th Chris Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer sent out the following Tweet about Denver Nuggets guard/forward Will Barton and the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest:

Should be no-brainer to invite Denver high-flying, rising star Will Barton to compete in Slam Dunk Contest. League is considering, I’m told.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 29, 2016

Haynes, formerly a reporter in Portland where Barton broke into the league, followed up that Tweet tonight with some good news for fans of The People’s Champ:

Denver Nuggets G Will Barton has been invited to compete in Slam Dunk Contest, league source informed @clevelanddotcom. Well deserved honor.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 4, 2016

It should be a no-brainer that Barton will accept the invite as he recently had the following to say to Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post on the subject:

Would he want to be in the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest?

The short answer is yes.

“I mean, if they asked me, I would do it,” Barton said. “It’s just how I feel about it. But I don’t have too many feelings about it.”

If Barton does indeed compete, that will mark three Nuggets who will be in Toronto for All-Star festivities as Emmanuel Mudiay and Nikola Jokic will participate on the World Team in the Rising Stars Challenge on Feb. 12th.

Plays like this one against Houston Rockets power forward Donatas Motiejunas are a major reason why Barton should be in the contest.

Dunk Contest Info:

What: Verizon Slam Dunk
When: Feb. 13 | All-Star Saturday Night | 8:30 p.m. ET | (4th Event)
Where: Air Canada Centre
TV: TNT
Participants: TBD (Barton?)

Year-by-year list of NBA Slam Dunk Contest winners:

Denver Nuggets in the Slam Dunk Contest via RealGM: