Coming into the preseason, everyone was curious to see whether Will Barton would start for the Denver Nuggets, but it appears he could be headed for the bench. Even though he came off of the bench in Wednesday's preseason contest versus the Portland Trail Blazers, Barton adamantly said that he's a starter.
“I am a starter,” Barton double-downed on Wednesday, via The Athletic's Kendra Andrews. “I have no plans on being a sixth man. I have no desire to be that.”
On Wednesday night, instead of starting the game on the floor, Barton came into the game with the second unit. As a result, the bench of the Nuggets would look explosive, giving them another reliable scorer to relieve the starters.
However, Barton doesn't seem content with spending the entire season as a sixth-man or bench player. Despite Barton being direct in saying he's a starter, Mike Malone responded with some tough love. As coach, he needs to make some hard decisions for the good of the team.
“My job isn’t to keep anybody happy,” Malone said. “If I wanted to keep people happy I’d sell ice cream for a living. I have to make tough decisions and as we move forward to that season opener, the tough decisions will have to be made.”
In the past two seasons, Will Barton has been a member of the starting unit, starting in a career-high 58 games a season ago. Sadly, a knee injury would prevent Barton from being available for the entirety of the team's magical playoff run in the bubble.
Sometimes, players can be against accepting a bench role, especially when they've had success as a starter. With the Nuggets looking to build off of their Western Conference Finals appearance in 2019-2020, Barton's role with the team could cause some issues behind closed doors as the season goes on. It'll be something to keep an eye on, for sure.
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