Will Barton
During last year’s NBA playoffs, Will Barton wasn’t effective for the Denver Nuggets and they simply need more this time around. He ended up averaging just 9.1 points with genuinely bad shooting splits across the board during his 14 post-season performances in 2019.
A particular area where the Nuggets would benefit from Barton elevating his production would be in the pick-and-roll ball-handling department. Denver lacks an elite high-usage ball handler that can run the show come playoff time and Barton will be relied upon to succeed as a result.
A significant portion of Barton’s role within the Nuggets’ offense comes in the form of pick-and-roll ball-handling and he hasn’t been all that efficient in those situations. For reference, his output (0.816 PPP) ranked 56th among the 68 players with at least 200 of these plays.
It’s not just about playmaking for Barton even though pick-and-roll ball-handling is such a hefty share of his responsibilities. Another priority must be for him to actually have his highly impactful jump shooting results carry over into the playoffs this time.
