If I was a Nuggets fan, I would be upset that Will Barton is playing just well enough to displace Malik Beasley in the lineup. I’m not sure a player like Barton is ever worth 32 minutes per game (the amount he’s getting currently, ten games into the season) but he’s definitely worth, like, 25 minutes per game, and that’s still a lot. That’s still enough to make Beasley’s life miserable. And I love Beasley a lot so my main goal is to see him succeed, at the detriment of every other player on the roster if need be.
Would trading Barton help? It obviously depends on the return. I think there are some scoring-starved teams out there who would see his 50% three-point shooting and maybe give up some value for him. You would just have to make sure that the player(s) received in return don’t take away shots from Malik Beasley and Gary Harris, who stand to be the main beneficiaries from a theoretical situation where Barton is no longer around.
You know what I’m thinking.
Will Barton and Paul Millsap and a pick for Thon Maker and Blake Griffin. Does the money work out? I’m too lazy to check. Do the “basketball reasons” work out? Sure, maybe. But the main thing is, it gets Barton off the team, and it gets Millsap off the team (remember, he’s the one who ruined the Nuggets), and it gets the Pistons out from underneath Griffin’s contract, and the Nuggets get Thon who is worthless but only shoots like four times per game no matter how many minutes he gets. It also makes the Nuggets into championship contenders. Kinda.
Again, I ask the question: why am I not a GM yet? Or at least an assistant GM. Or the assistant GM’s secretary. I’ll have you know I can manage an Office 365 calendar with the best of them.