3:39pm: Barton has officially been placed on waivers, per a press release from the Wizards. As we relayed in a separate story, the plan is for Goodwin to fill the newly opened roster spot.
12:49pm: Wizards guard Will Barton has completed a buyout agreement with the team, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Wojnarowski first reported just after the trade deadline passed that Washington and Barton were working out a buyout.
While there has been no official announcement from the Wizards yet, it sounds like Barton will be placed on waivers today and would be on track to reach free agency on Thursday. He had been earning $14.375MM in the final year of his contract.
After being packaged with Monte Morris in the offseason trade that sent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith to Denver, Barton has had a disappointing season for his hometown team in D.C., averaging just 7.7 points per game on 38.7% shooting in 40 appearances (19.6 MPG).
Barton’s three-point shooting remained solid (38.0%) this season and he had several good years with the Nuggets before last summer’s trade, so the 32-year-old should garner some interest from playoff contenders as a low-cost free agent addition.
If and when Barton becomes a free agent, Denver would be the only team besides Washington ineligible to sign him — NBA rules prohibit a team from re-signing a player it traded during the offseason if he’s waived by his new team during the subsequent season.
The Wizards, meanwhile, will have an open roster spot after waiving Barton and are widely believed to be planning a promotion for two-way player Jordan Goodwin. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Washington still has an unused portion of its mid-level exception left and is about $2.1MM below the luxury tax line, so Goodwin could be signed to a multiyear deal without team salary going into the tax.
Could be a good deal for a team like the Lakers, who could still use some extra three points shooting. Come to think of it, he’s probably not a bad pickup for any team.
Terrible defender. Low iq. Performs worst when it matters the most. Yeah I can’t think of any team that wouldnt want him lol
how does it make u feel to know he’s made so many millions in his career? Pretty salty huh. Here’s Will being a great defender & performing great when it matters most… link to m.youtube.com
This guy was balling a few years ago. BTW, nobody plays defense anymore.
Remember when people thought denver lost this trade? Will Barton didn’t last 3 months in the rotation of a bottom feeder lol
Tbh 2k had me thinking Barton and KCP were the same.
Monte Morris has been reliable for the Wizards. But he’s not dynamic like KCP is with his shooting but hes more of stabilizing floor general/extended coach.
I admit that I don’t really know much about Barton, I haven’t seen a lot of the Nuggs bench when he was with them and he was a non-factor in Washington. But that 3pt percentage has to be at least slightly enticing. Very subpar defensive metrics, but I imagine some teams would be willing to take a chance on him for a minimum deal.
Boston has a open roster spot they also have gallinaris dissabeled player exemption so they can pay him more than a minimum deal adding him to there bench would make that the deepest bench in the league
Barton and Boston would be a horrible fit. He doesn’t play any defense whatsoever and doesn’t even pretend like he wants to share the ball with his teammates.
They don’t need him to play defense against the opposing teams front line players now that robert williams and marcus smart are healthy plus grant williams and derick white are team defense is very good barton is there as a offensive spark and defense that he plays will be against the opposing teams bench players at this point in the season if they can come to terms that would be an excellent move
I mean any team that needs a body that can shoot and create would be a fit. As a Nugget fan I would not want him in my roatation
Wouldn’t the Wizards also be ineligible to sign Barton again?
Yes, good catch. If they’d just waived him without a buyout, they could have re-signed him (like Houston did with Boban), but buying him out makes them ineligible to bring him back this season.
Warriors should get him need that 3/D Wing… Waive Iggy. Also fit for Kings/Heat/Bucks/Bulls
Can wizards also waive gibson?