NBA AM: Barton Making Case For Sixth Man Honors

Will Barton Making the Most of his Opportunity

It is a known fact that most second-round NBA draft picks don’t pan out at the professional level. It seemed that the same fate awaited wing Will Barton, who was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 40th overall pick in the 2012 draft.

During his first two seasons in the league, Barton averaged a modest four points per contest in under 15 minutes of court time. In Barton’s rookie campaign, he appeared in 73 contests and even registered five starts. During his second season, Barton appeared in just 43 games and his minutes took a dip.

Complicating matters for Barton was the fact he was firmly behind established veterans Wesley Matthews and Nicolas Batum on the depth chart and Portland was a team with title aspirations, which is never good for a youngster trying to find his niche.

In February, Barton was traded to Denver along with Victor Claver, Thomas Robinson and a lottery protected first-round pick in exchange for veterans Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee.

The Blazers, in the midst of a 50-win campaign, decided to move younger guys in order to add proven veterans to their locker room in the hopes of pursuing a championship.

At the time of the deal, Barton was averaging three points in 10 minutes per contest in 30 appearances. Barton seemingly found his groove in Denver at the end of the 2014-15 campaign by averaging 11 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 28 late season games. But Barton’s increased production didn’t generate many headlines as the league is littered with similar stories of guys producing strong box scores during the latter stages of each year.

However, Barton’s play last season wasn’t a fluke and it has continued into the 2015-16 campaign. The fourth-year forward has come out of the gates strong by averaging 15.7 points, six rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals on 46 percent shooting in 29 minutes of action per night.

Even though the Nuggets (11-17) are a sub .500 team at the moment, Barton’s play off the bench has been inspiring and the once afterthought in Portland has emerged as the second leading scorer for a rebuilding Denver franchise.

But can he get into the Sixth Man of the Year discussion?

History says no.

You have to go back over 20 years to the 1993-94 campaign to find a Sixth Man of the Year winner that took home the crown while his team failed to make the playoffs. Dell Curry was the winner and the Charlotte Hornets finished at .500 but missed the playoffs (Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning missed a combined 53 contests).

Although the Western Conference is a bit down this season compared to the 2014-15 campaign, it is unlikely the Nuggets can make a serious run for a playoff berth, which would leave Barton and his noteworthy play on the outside looking in at the Sixth Man race.

Roster Changes Coming in Dallas?

Heading into the season, there were a lot of observers who didn’t peg the Dallas Mavericks as a team competing for a top five spot in the Western Conference.

Through the quarter mark, the franchise (15-13) is currently fifth in the conference standings.

However, the team’s recent effort didn’t sit well with head coach Rick Carlisle and with the trade deadline looming two months away, the veteran skipper put guys on notice.

“Look, if it’s going to be like that, these guys aren’t going to be Mavericks very long,” Carlisle said according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “I can promise you that.”

Carlisle, who recently inked an extension, has job security and support from the organization giving his words even more value.

“Wow,” forward Chandler Parsons said. “We’ve got to play harder. He’s going to be here at least five more years. He just signed an extension. Nothing here is unconditional. We’re paid to play hard and compete every single night. When nights like this happen, when we don’t lay it all on the line, words are going to be said like that.”

The Mavericks are 5-5 over their last 10 contests. If the playoffs started today, the team would face the Los Angeles Clippers.