William Denard "Will" Barton is an American professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association.
Education
Barton attended the University of Memphis and plays shooting guard. 6-rated player in the nation in 2010, attended four schools in five years. He initially attended City College High in Baltimore for two years, reclassified once and attended National Christian Academy in Maryland (repeating his sophomore year), then enrolled at Baltimore"s Lake Clifton Eastern High School for his junior year.
Then as a senior in 2009-2010, he attended Brewster Academy.
Barton chose Memphis over Arizona, Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana, and Villanova.
Career
He was selected with the 40th pick of the 2012 National Basketball Association draft by the Trail Blazers. Barton, the Number. Barton was rated the best shooting guard by Scout.com and Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.com in 2010. Barton was invited to play in the Jordan Brand Classic in 2010.
Barton came to Memphis in 2010 and played every game in his freshman season, leading the Tigers in minutes per game at 30.6 and scoring with 12.3 points per game.
Portland Trail Blazers (2012–2015)
In March 2012, Barton decided to forgo his final two years of eligibility and declare for the 2012 National Basketball Association draft. He was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the 40th overall pick.
On December 7, 2012, he was assigned to the Idaho Stampede of the National Basketball Association Development League. He was recalled on December 9, reassigned on January 6, and recalled again on January 9.
He made his first National Basketball Association start on April 10, 2013 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
In a televised interview following the game, when asked by a reporter about a spontaneous "Will Barton" chant that had broken out late in the contest, the guard replied, "I like to think I"m the people"s champ," thereby instantly giving birth to a new nickname and a Trail Blazers meme. Denver Nuggets (2015–present)
On February 19, 2015, Barton was traded, along with Víctor Claver, Thomas Robinson and a lottery-protected 2016 first-round pick, to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee. On August 7, 2015, Barton re-signed with the Nuggets.
He topped that mark on December 20 with 32 points against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Barton"s strong pre-Christmas play earned him recognition as a possible contender for the 2015-2016 Sixth Manitoba of the Year award. Over the Nuggets" first 29 games of the season, Barton averaged 15.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals in 29.0 minutes per game off the bench.