Will Barton had options Tuesday afternoon when he and the Washington Wizards finalized a contract buyout allowing him to hit the open market. Teams were calling, he said, trying to acquire the 31-year-old long-time Denver Nuggets guard.
The decision, though, seemed pretty easy.
Barton and Toronto Raptors assistant coach Earl Watson go way back to Barton’s sophomore season in Portland when Watson was a 34-year-old veteran one year away from retirement. Knowing Watson was with the Raptors, Toronto had a need for another guard, and that there would be playing time opportunities made joining the Raptors the obvious choice.
“I’ve been in the league 11 years so I’ve been here before,” Barton said Wednesday morning following his first team practice. “I knew it was a pretty good city. I’ve visited here in the summertime a couple of times before when I was a younger player. And me and Earl have a very strong relationship, so I trust him a lot.”
Barton’s first showing Tuesday night, four minutes against the Chicago Bulls, was impressive Raptors coach Nick Nurse said post-game. It wasn’t much, but the ball moved nicely, Nurse said, especially if you consider Barton had only been in Toronto for a few hours.
Moving forward, the 6-foot-5, 181-pound guard said he just wants to be himself in Toronto and the Raptors expect to be accommodating. He’s a veteran leader who played for some very successful Nuggets teams over the year and he should provide a little more catch-and-shoot ability for a team largely bereft of floor-spacing. He's been a 35.5% three-point shooter for his career and has knocked down catch-and-shoot thees at a 44.9% clip this season.
The goal, Barton said, is to get playing time, keep proving himself to the league, and help impact winning for the Raptors as the playoffs near.
“I just wanted to add any depth I could to this team,” Barton added. “Definitely a team that is way better than their record. Everybody knows that around the league. Very talented, well-coached, well-run organization. So hopefully we can just keep getting wins, get our record better, and get to the playoffs.”
It’s going to take Barton a few days to get acclimated in Toronto’s system, especially on the offensive end as he tries to navigate the Raptors’ strange position-less attack. In any given lineup there’s a chance Barton is playing anything from the point guard spot to the small forward spot and that can take some time to figure out, said fellow veteran Thad Young.
It should help to have some familiar opponents on the horizon as Toronto opens a two-game set against Washington, Barton’s former team, on Thursday, before the Raptors play two of their next six games against the Nuggets.
“More knowledgeable of the Denver playbook than the Wizards playbook but I know a couple of tendencies there, so, any knowledge I can give to this team, I’ll do my best,” Barton said.
More must-reads: