Will Barton
Guangdong Southern Tigers

Player Facts

Height: 6'6"
Weight: 181lbs.

Wingspan: 6'9.75"

Date of Birth: Jan. 6, 1991
College Experience: Memphis (2 years)

Selections

All Star: 0
All-NBA: 0
All-Defensive: 0

Player Grades

Speed/Explosiveness: 9
Physical Strength: 5
Positional Size: 8
Positional Wingspan: 8
Paint Scoring: 7
Midrange Scoring: 6
Three-Point Scoring: 7
Dribbling: 8
Passing: 7
Perimeter Defense: 6
Interior Defense: 5
Rebounding: 6

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JUMP TO SECTION

> Intro

> Energetic Slashing

> DHO Attacks

> Elite Basket Cutting

> Playing Beside Ball-Handlers

> Playmaking Notes

> Pestering Defense

> Blocks + Steals

> Screen Contortion

> Defensive Rebounding

> Shooting Inefficiencies

> Rail-Thin Frame

> Beacon Bacon

>Link to Player Contract & Salary Info

*All short clips courtesy of NF Highlights & Smart Highlights (YouTube)

*All statistical data courtesy of NBA Advanced Stats

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STRENGTHS

Intro

The wiry Will Barton is a multi-faceted player at 6'6". He can play the part of the one, two, or three for his squad on either end. The Baltimore native has cultivated a solid jumper but remains a slash-first guy at his core.

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Energetic Slashing

Barton plays with great energy on the court. He knows how to channel it though, rarely out of control or throwing silly passes. Instead, he takes advantage of lazy defense or just players assuming he may settle for a jumper.

His rack attacks can begin with a ball screen or without one. Will's first step is explosive and so is his last one at the rim.

He keeps his moves simple and allows his dribbling cadence and quickness to serve up slashing excellence. He can turn to a little step-back when players guard him straight-up.

His 3.7 points a night as the pick-and-roll initiator in 2019-2020 was a solid figure. It was higher than the marks of Tyler Herro, T.J. Warren, and Tobias Harris. 2021-2022 had him at 2.7 points/night on this play. A technique he uses here is the skip-hesi as he comes off the screen, placing him in a good position to explode from.

DHO Attacks

Dribble handoffs serve as an additional means of scoring for Will Barton. He uses that acceleration to pitch-and-dash to the ball in hopes of gaining a quick advantage. With his defender already trailing oftentimes, the path to the cup becomes that much clearer.

2020-2021 saw the versatile scorer land in the 81st percentile scoring on handoffs. His shiny 1.12 points per play here bested both Jaylen Brown and his teammate Jamal Murray.

Elite Basket Cutting

Will is ultra-comfortable next to other ball-handlers. He loves being given the green light to rove, discovering cracks in the defense to explore. Barton is truly one of the game's best cutters – 98th percentile in 2019-2020.

As the Joker invariably fosters chemistry with nearly all of his speedy teammates, and he and Will play off of each other expectedly well. Barton's frenetic, herky-jerky off-ball movement dovetails with Nikola's nifty cutter-heavy passing style. Jokić was by far the most common delivery man on the team in terms helpers sent to Will in 2020-2021.

Playing Beside Ball-Handlers

His perimeter shooting is another usable part within his off-ball toolkit. He's been above 38% on spot-up triples from 2017-2018 to 2021-2022. Barton has a somewhat unorthodox two-motion shot but the results are still there.

That unreal speed he has is something he fully maximizes as a closeout-attacker. Since becoming a knockdown catch-and-shoot guy, the over-zealous closeout has been more commonplace. Barton turns on the jets past the fly-by to make a play.

Playmaking Notes

To round out his offense, Will is an above-average passer for a swingman. He is comfortable operating in the pick-and-roll, allowing him to play some backup point. Barton does not force the pass in these spots, instead opting to take what the defense is giving him.

Barton's measured playmaking translates to low turnover counts year after year. This doesn't preclude him from generating plenty of points for others, providing 796 in 2017-2018. More recently, his 4.0 assists per-36 minutes in 2019-2020 remains solid at his position.

Pestering Defense

The once Memphis Tiger is a pretty strong defensive player, all things considered. His point of attack work, man defense, 3pt defense, defensive playmaking, and defensive rebounding are typically all positives for Will.

As just one example, his 0.77 points per isolation play defended in 2019-2020 compared closely to elite perimeter defenders Jrue Holiday (0.76) and Dejounte Murray (0.75).

Blocks + Steals

The gifts he possesses on defense include a plus-wingspan (nearly 6'10"), dynamic lateral quicks, and the ability to change directions swiftly. That long reach at his 6'6" stature allows for some recovery blocks and even some open court swats. He has put up at least half a block per-36 on average between 2015-2016 and 2020-2021.

He offers up supplementary off-ball defensive value in the form of steals, deflections and loose balls recovered. Barton will bring himself over to blitz the ball-handler which can force turnovers, but he can also burst into passing lanes.

Will averaged more deflections/game than guys like Malcolm Brogdon, Royce O'Neale, De'Andre Hunter, and Wesley Matthews (2019-2020).

The forcing of these live-ball turnovers empowers Will and his squad to get out and go. His great foot speed plays here, and he has been a favorite streaking target for Nikola Jokic's pinpoint outlet passes. Barton's 190 transition points in 58 2019-2020 games outpaced Jimmy Butler, Dennis Schroder, Devonte' Graham, and Donovan Mitchell.

Screen Contortion

As expected given his body type, Barton is an expert screen navigator when engaged. He can contort over when tasked with checking elite shooters. If there's a switch, his 6'6" size and good length provide palatable resistance against bigger players.

The numbers back up Will's point of attack work. His defensive dribble handoff numbers are particularly eye-catching. His DHO-recipient defense was good for the 69th percentile in 2018-2019, then the 83rd in 2019-2020, then the 78th in 2020-2021.

Defensive Rebounding

Noteworthy defensive glass-cleaning at his position is the last strong point to note. Out of all players who played some guard in 2019-2020, he just missed the top ten in D-REBS per game. Will's mark of 5.0 per contest still bested players such as DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball.

WEAKNESSES

Shooting Inefficiencies

Efficiency from the field has never been a strong suit of Will's. Even as he was handed many catch-and-finish looks within Denver's motion-heavy offense, his percentages don't reflect such a desirable shot diet. Barton resides in the low-to-mid-40's from the field.

The duo of anchors that pull down that overall efficiency are mediocre rim finishing and poor touch on floaters. Despite being 6'6", he falls short of a desired figure at the cup, especially given some of his easy looks. Barton also fails to convert many of his sometimes flailing, out-of-control floaters – 45/137 (32.8%) non-restricted area paint shots in 2019-2020.

He could be better from the free-throw line. Barton has had too many sub-80% seasons at the stripe given his positional expectations.

Rail-Thin Frame

As a thinness-related offensive weakness, he can get bumped off his driving path because he's so light. He shot just 42.5% on his 7.8 drives per night in 2019-2020. His up-and-down finishing can also be attributed to a lack of bulk.

His slight frame does get him in trouble against the league's bigger wings. Barton spends a lot of time at the three given his height and skillset but cannot always guard that opposing wing. Will is just 181 pounds, so the forward opposite him very often has a 50lbs.+ advantage.

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Beacon Bacon

The thin Barton had the third-lowest body fat percentage in his entire 2012 draft class – a minuscule 4.10%