Reports: Nuggets to re-sign G Barton for four years, over $50M
Guard Will Barton is expected to re-sign with the Denver Nuggets on a four-year contract once free agency opens at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, according to multiple reports Saturday.
Per Yahoo Sports, the deal will be worth "just north of $50 million." According to ESPN, the fourth year will be a player option.
Barton, 27, just finished the final year of a three-year, $10.6 million contract. He averaged 15.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 81 games (40 starts) last season in his third full campaign in Denver, finishing fourth in the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year voting.
The Nuggets acquired Barton from the Portland Trail Blazers via trade in February of 2015. He has averaged 14.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists in parts of four seasons in Denver, after he posted figures of 3.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game in two-plus years in Portland. The Blazers took him in the second round in the 2012 draft.
Multiple reports on Friday and Saturday indicated the Nuggets were close to a deal to retain Barton, which would push the team well into the luxury tax unless other salary is trimmed.
The Nuggets have reportedly been discussing trades to dump the salaries of power forwards Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur. Center Mason Plumlee, who arrived via trade from the Blazers in February 2017, is also considered a possible trade candidate.
--Field Level Media
