Milwaukee Bucks: 10 potential mid-level exception NBA free agency targets
By Adam McGee
Will Barton
Having carved out a successful career as a top-tier sixth man/instant offense spot starter, Will Barton should finally get away from the tag of being one of the most underpaid players in the NBA this summer.
Across his six-year career to date, Barton has career earnings of $12.6 million, which is considerably less than players with his production generally earn in the NBA.
Barton’s status as a second round pick certainly set that up, but so did how incredibly under-utilized he was in his early years in Portland. Barton averaged just 3.8 points in 11 minutes per game during almost three seasons with the Blazers, yet has averaged 14.2 points in 29.6 minutes per game in over three-and-a-half seasons in Denver since.
As those numbers suggest, Barton has been a key cog of Denver’s progress in recent seasons and that hasn’t gone unnoticed by any means. The Indiana Pacers are already said to be interested in Barton, and many more will likely follow.
For the Bucks, a player like Barton could be a real game-changer. Not only could he ensure the second unit had a steady scoring option, he could slot into the starting lineup if the team needed a shot in the arm offensively.
To go with Barton’s ability to score, he can also make plays for teammates (4.1 assists per game last year), and is a relatively versatile defender capable of guarding positions 1 through 3. Barton is almost guaranteed offers around the full non-taxpayer MLE, and likely multi-year contracts at that price too.