WOJ/SHAMS: Nuggets trade Barton and Morris for KCP and Ish Smith

[Rafael122]

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[Rafael122]

I was not expecting Barton to come back in a hypothetical trade involving Morris and am genuinely surprised that KCP was traded considering him and Brad's wives are close.

[JWizmentality]

I was not expecting Barton to come back in a hypothetical trade involving Morris and am genuinely surprised that KCP was traded considering him and Brad's wives are close.

Too early to get excited for a Beal sign and trade??

[queridiculo]

Nuggets save money after next season without having to surrender any assets.

Seems like a one hand washes the other hand kind of deal.

Pope is better than Barton, but the Wizards gain a more credible backup option at PG.

[miller31time]

Doesn’t seem like a terrible trade.

KCP, Morris and Barton are all about the same level of player. So we get a little more depth and a player who can help us at a position of need (point guard). KCP and Barton both have expiring contacts this upcoming season so it doesn’t hurt us in the cap department other than Morris’ 9mil for an extra season.

[miller31time]

I was not expecting Barton to come back in a hypothetical trade involving Morris and am genuinely surprised that KCP was traded considering him and Brad's wives are close.

Don’t tease us with a good time.

[nate33]

Seems like a pretty solid move - under the absurd premise that we are trying to win now, that is.

KCP is a little better than Barton, and Morris is a little better than Ish, so it's pretty fair. We are taking back a pretty substantial amount of salary in this though. Hopefully Sheppard got a little extra compensation for this in a 2nd round pick.

EDIT: Nevermind that last sentence. It looks like BBall Reference has Barton's salary wrong. He is only paid $14.3M, not $16.6M. So the salary differential in this transaction is smaller than I thought. Just $4.6M.

[80sballboy]

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[80sballboy]

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[80sballboy]

I’m fine with it as long as Morris is the back up and they go after Jones.

[nate33]

Yeah, KCP for Barton is an expiring $14M contract for an expiring $14.3M contract.

Ish for Morris is an expiring $4.7M contract for 2-year contract with $9.0M and $9.66M remaining.

[AFM]

Barton is a local guy, Baltimore IIRC. Always been a fan of his game

Watch on YouTube

[nate33]

I’m fine with it as long as Morris is the back up and they go after Jones.

Meh, I always though of Jones as merely a 5th starter/6th-man caliber player anyhow. Morris is a 6th/7th man caliber player in his own right. Rather than committing a lot of future cap room to have two 5th/6th man caliber players at PG, I'd rather just go with Morris as a starter and find some stopgap vet minimum guy as a backup. We can try and find a real starting PG next year.

[80sballboy]

Memphis was 19-4 with Morant out. That says something. His numbers as a starter were pretty good.

[WallToWall]

I like this because we improved our PG position. We now have a true backup PG, better than Ish Smith. But to give up KCP is a high price.... rather, I think KCP could have brought us more than Morris.

[queridiculo]

Is there something missing from this transaction, feels a bit like the Wizards are stealing value?

Barton and KCP seem like a push, unless the Nuggets were just desperate to shed salary.

[dorianwrite]

Really solid move. If/when Beal gets injured or needs rest, you've got a solid back-up in Barton. If they want to play a small-ball lineup, they can plug in Barton at small forward.

The main way this trade goes south is if the team is now content with Morris as their starter rather than as a strong reserve guard.

We're not a championship team, we all know, but this feels like a good step toward the playoffs. Maybe even avoiding the play-in, if one is irrationally optimistic?

[nate33]

Memphis was 19-4 with Morant out. That says something. His numbers as a starter were pretty good.

I like Jones, but I don't see a team winning a championship with Jones as the starting PG. He is too small and not a good enough defense bender.

We already have "good enough" at PG in Morris. If I'm expending any more assets to address the position, I want a real difference maker, not another "good enough" guy.

It's one thing to offer a full MLE deal (4 years, $43M) if you have 34 minutes a game to give him. But now we only need to address 14 minutes a game. I'd go with a vet minimum or Biannual Exception guy.

The only way I'd use the MLE for another PG is if it's a 1-year deal (or 2 years with the second being a team option). Maybe that gets us Rubio, but not Jones.

[Eli Babak]

Is there something missing from this transaction, feels a bit like the Wizards are stealing value?

I agree. I wouldn't be surprised if Wiz traded 1-2 2nds too. If not, then Denver wants to ruin Jokic's prime by being cheap. Anyways:

Morris / Davis
Beal / Barton
Avdija / Kispert / (Gill)
Kuzma / Hachimura / Todd
Porzingis / Gafford / Carey

Doesn't look too bad on paper but I think that's something I've heard before...

[nate33]

Is there something missing from this transaction, feels a bit like the Wizards are stealing value?

Barton and KCP seem like a push, unless the Nuggets were just desperate to shed salary.

They were desperate to shed salary. Also, I think KCP is a bit better than Barton, though the gap between them definitely isn't as large as the gap between Morris and Ish.