Nuggets' Will Barton to decline player option

Nuggets swingman Will Barton will opt out of his $14.7 million salary for next season, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Both sides hope a new deal can be reached in free agency, Charania adds.

Saturday was the deadline for a decision from Barton, who has been in Denver since being acquired in a trade with Portland midway through the 2014-15 season. He is the longest-tenured player on the Nuggets’ roster and will be an offseason priority for president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Denver owns Bird rights on Barton and will be able to exceed the cap to re-sign him, notes Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). The Nuggets are already over the cap for next season with $114.3 million in salary, Marks adds. That figure includes Denver's first-round draft pick and $7.6 million for JaMychal Green, whose option decision is due by July 26.

Barton, 30, suffered a late-season hamstring injury that limited his availability in the playoffs. He appeared in 56 regular-season games and averaged 12.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting a career best 38.1% from three-point range.