The Denver Nuggets are in a strange spot of their rebuilding process. Their youth core consisting of Emmanuel Mudiay, Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and more has shown plenty of promise and they’ll only continue to get better. However, as of now, their roster still isn’t strong enough to be considered a legitimate playoff team in the Western Conference.
At 12-17, Denver is currently situated as the 9th seed out West, pushing for a postseason spot. The Nuggets seem to be determined to win now and may be willing to make some moves to strengthen their roster. One player potentially on the move is shooting guard Will Barton. According to Chris Haynes of ESPN, there may already be a couple candidates seeking Barton’s services:
Washington, New Orleans among teams reached out to Denver to gauge availability of Will Barton, league sources tell ESPN. Exploratory now.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 21, 2016
It should come as no surprise to anyone that teams like the Washington Wizards and the New Orleans Pelicans are chomping at the bit about Barton’s availability. The swingman seems to always produce quality numbers off the bench. He’s been known to be an explosive athlete and scorer for the second unit throughout his tenure with Denver. Bringing him in as a sixth man would be a huge boost to just about any bench in the league.
Shipping Will Barton to either the Wizards or the Pelicans could make sense. The Pelicans have already been involved in trade rumors of their own surrounding center Omer Asik. New Orleans is obviously looking for all the help they can get to build around superstar Anthony Davis. As for Washington, they haven’t lived up to expectations thus far this season though they have begun to improve their play as of late. One of their biggest issues is weak bench production and Barton would be the perfect solution. Both the Pelicans and Wizards need to bolster their squads to be regarded as threats in their respective conferences and the addition of Will Barton’s ability to ignite off the bench would certainly better their chances.
