Why Celtics Should Target Will Barton After Reported Contract Buyout

The Boston Celtics have been presented with another viable candidate on the buyout market as Will Barton reportedly finalized a buyout with the Washington Wizards.

The 32-year-old Barton and the Celtics were said to have mutual interest, as reported by Celtics Blog’s Keith Smith earlier this month. Smith followed up by including Barton as a player to keep an eye on for Boston.

The partnership would make sense, and is something president of basketball operations Brad Stevens should pursue.

After all, the Celtics currently hold the best record in the NBA and their disabled player exception of $3.23 million, which stems from the offseason injury to Danilo Gallinari, gives Boston more money to spend than others on the open market.

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While Boston’s current roster already is incredibly deep, Barton would provide further wing depth behind NBA All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The Celtics reportedly were interested in adding depth at that position before the NBA trade deadline. Sam Hauser, another depth piece on the wing, has proven to be a solid bench piece given his shooting prowess, but adding the 11-year veteran simply wouldn’t hurt.

Elsewhere the Celtics have a backcourt with Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon along with frontcourt depth including Robert Williams, Al Horford, Grant Williams, trade deadline addition Mike Muscala and others. Of course, that also means minutes likely would be limited for Barton when the C’s enter the playoffs and that could prevent him from wanting to sign with the franchise.

There’s no doubt Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla already is going to have to make some difficult decisions down the stretch with the roster as it is. But from the Celtics perspective, especially given they currently have an open roster spot, it would make some sense to fill it with a veteran like Barton.

Barton offers some potential as a scorer should minutes become more limited for Brown or Tatum down the stretch. Standing at 6-foot-6 and 181 pounds, Barton averaged just 7.7 points on 38.7% from the field this season, but that had more to do with the fact he didn’t adjust well to his new role with the Wizards. He played just 19.6 minutes per game, his fewest in the last seven seasons. During his previous four campaigns with the Denver Nuggets, Barton averaged 13.7 points on 43.2% from the field. He’s a 35.5% 3-point shooter in his career, as well.

Barton feels like the best remaining option for the Celtics on the buyout market, especially after Boston was a finalist to land veteran Danny Green before he signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Celtics fans clearly believe it to be the case, too, as expressed with their initial reactions after ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported Barton agreed to a contract buyout in Washington.

It’s worth noting that in order to be eligible to compete in the playoffs, Barton would need to sign with a team before March 1.