Two summers ago, Will Barton’s breakout season earned him job security and a hefty payday. Now, after a tumultuous, injury-riddled campaign last year, Barton is back to being the player the Nuggets thought they signed.
It’s fair to wonder where the Nuggets would be had Barton not authored a fantastic, albeit incomplete, comeback season.
First, coming out of training camp, Barton needed to re-gain his starting role. Perhaps coach Michael Malone dangled the competition as motivation, but in retrospect, Torrey Craig, Juancho Hernangomez and Michael Porter Jr. weren’t a serious threat to Barton’s spot.