Missing two game-winning shots in a week might damage the confidence of some NBA players. In February, Nuggets swingman Will Barton misfired on a pair of three-pointers in two straight nights at the end of regulation that could’ve given his team the lead, the first a wild 34-footer against the Boston Celtics and the second a wide open look from the top of the arc against the San Antonio Spurs.
Denver fell short in both games. Yet later that week against Golden State, Barton was back out there in the fourth quarter going about his business as if his gaffes were ancient history. He scored 10 of his team-high 25 points in the final 12 minutes of play as the Nuggets earned an upset win over the back-to-back champs.
“They always slept on me, so I had to be my biggest fan,” Barton said afterwards from behind aviator sunglasses.
In October, Barton bet big on himself by turning down a reported four-year, $42 million extension from the Nuggets. It was a lot of money for a reserve whose three-year, $10.6 million deal was set to expire at the end of the season. Barton felt he could get something even better. On Sunday, that gamble paid off as he agreed to a four-year, $54 million with the Nuggets that will allow him to spend his prime years in Denver.
“GOD look what you’ve done for me,” Barton wrote on Twitter. “Thank you, I can do all things through you I can do nothing without you. I love you. BMORE this for US! Denver we back at let’s get it! To the trenches & the real ones if I did it so can yall. We motivating the trap. Love for life!”
A former second-round pick, Barton came to Denver in February 2015 from Portland in the Arron Afflalo trade. Barton showed flashes of talent in his first two-plus seasons in the league with the Trail Blazers, but he never received consistent minutes on a team that was already loaded in the backcourt. Switching over to a rebuilding team placed Barton in an environment he could grow.
The Nuggets won 30 games in Barton’s first season in Denver, 33 his second, 40 his third and 46 in his fourth. He’s been with them every step of the way through a painful rebuild. Now Denver is hoping its 23-and-under core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Gary Harris, four-time All-Star Paul Millsap and Barton can finally help it break through to the postseason and perhaps even make some noise when it gets there.
“I think we’re building something real special here,” Barton said in April with the pain of the regular-season finale loss to Minnesota still lingering. “I love playing with Jok and Jamal and Gary. The guys we have in the locker room, I like being around. The coaching staff has really come a long way with trusting me and me trusting them. Just the whole organization, I feel like we’re headed in the right direction. Man, I would love to be in the playoffs this year. I feel like if bring the nucleus of our team back next with year with the lessons we learned at the end of the season, we could be that team full time and consistent.”
Barton’s career year in 2017-18 (15.7 ppg, 5.0 rbg, 4.1 apg) helped the Nuggets finish 10 games above .500 despite Millsap’s wrist injury and Emmanuel Mudiay’s struggles. Occupying as many roles as Barton did — scorer off the bench, backup point guard, starting shooting guard, starting small forward — was no easy task. He can be one of the best sixth men in basketball for years to come if the Nuggets ask him to play that role.
It’s also possible the Nuggets ask him to be a full-time starter in 2018-19. They desperately need to shed salary after re-signing Barton to avoid a massive luxury tax bill, and Wilson Chandler, who has one year and $13.8 million left on his deal, is reportedly a player Denver is making available. Slotting Barton in for Chandler at the starting small forward would signal the Nuggets leaning even more into an offense-over-defense mentality. The five-man combination of Murray, Harris, Barton, Millsap and Jokic only logged 65 minutes together last season, but the Nuggets outscored opponents by nearly 33 points per 100 possessions in that time.
Barton’s versatility is one reason the Nuggets felt comfortable offering him a new contract that will pay him $13.5 million annually. He’s a basketball chameleon capable of being a stopgap solution at small forward while Michael Porter Jr. gets healthy or coming off the bench as one of the best reserves in basketball.
The 27-year-old Baltimore native is the rare player confident enough to turn down a big extension and bet on himself but accepting enough to take on any role. Barton and the Nuggets have grown together over the last three years. Their union will continue — the bucket-getting wing who earned a place for himself in the NBA through sheer force of will and the team that took a chance on him.
“I’m real big on that — starting what I finished,” Barton said. “We’ve been trending upwards since I got here. I would love to see how far we could take that and be a part of that.”
