Both Darrell Arthur and Danilo Gallinari admitted that they told Nuggets management that they didn’t want to be traded out of Denver, despite deals already being in place. The organization obliged, and the two are still in the Mile High City.
Will Barton is now hoping Tim Connelly and Co. listen to him, too.
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that several teams were actively pursuing Barton in trade discussions, but on Thursday, the Nuggets’ sixth man said he didn’t want to go anywhere.
“Yeah, they know that,” Barton said, via Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post. “They know I want to be here. It’s no secret. I want to be here; I want to be a part of this core that gets it right. I feel like we’re making huge strides. We’re right there, right now kind of fighting for that eight seed. I feel like we’ve just gotten our team completely healthy, and I want to be a part of that, and they know that. And if they don’t know that, I’m telling them now: I want to be here. I want to be with the Denver Nuggets, and hopefully we can keep it that way.”
Whether the Nuggets trade Barton or not, the fact that veterans are turning down opportunities to play for better teams (as both Arthur and Gallo were reported to have done last season) shows just how far this organization has come in two seasons. It really wasn’t that long ago that the Nuggets were chanting “One, two, three — six weeks!” in the middle of the game and playing host to one of the most dysfunctional locker rooms in the NBA.
Now, this is a place players want to be; we haven’t always been able to say that about this “flyover city.”
Still, if the right trade presents itself, the Nuggets can’t be afraid to make a move. Barton, with his absurdly cheap contract, may be one of the best trade assets on the team, and the haul he could bring back could be more valuable long term than his performance on he court, especially with Jamal Murray waiting in the wings.
We’ll find out what the Nuggets decide to do by February 23, the league’s trade deadline.
