Nuggets swingman Will Barton missed the entire NBA resumption due to a nagging – and somewhat mysterious – right knee injury, leaving the Orlando bubble in mid-August to continue his rehab away from the team. However, Denver’s president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and GM Calvin Booth denied Friday that there’s any sort of rift between Barton and the Nuggets.
“No, not at all,” Booth said, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “I think he left the bubble to get the best care he possibly could for his injury. He wasn’t anywhere close to playing at the time he left the bubble. We all thought it was the right decision.”
Both Connelly and Booth stressed Barton’s importance to the Nuggets, with the GM referring to the 29-year-old as “part of our core,” while Booth suggested he might’ve been Denver's third-best player during the regular season. Booth said the Nuggets don’t have long-term concerns about Barton’s knee, which they think should be fine by next year.
“It’s a shame that he got banged up during the hiatus,” Connelly added. “I think he’s as motivated as ever. We talk all the time, and we fully expect to see the best version of Will that they’ve seen, thus far, next season.”
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