FanPost

Is Will Barton Washington's Shooting Guard of the Future?


With Harrison Barnes or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist likely available with the Wizard's pick, their hole at small forward will be easy to fill this year, allowing the them to move Chris Singleton to the bench in order to fill the James Posey 2.0 role he was meant for and letting Cartier Martin play to his strengths as a floor spacer and occasional shot creator who's limitations as a defender will be masked going against second units. However the Wizards are still lacking a shooting guard as Jordan Crawford is a solid player who is better fit as a volume shooting sixth man.

There's been a lot of talk among draft analysts regarding Bradley Beal. He's going to be a good player, and I could see him as an Eric Gordon caliber shooting guard. He'd definitely be an asset to Washington or any other team. However, the Wizards should at least consider buying a late first round pick and using it on Will Barton.

As a potential NBA shooting guard, Will Barton has a lot going for him. At 6'6 and 175 pounds, he has the ideal size for the position, and is athletically gifted enough that he should be able to defend the vast majority of NBA shooting guards. Huge and/or strong players like Dwyane Wade and Joe Johnson might give him trouble, but they give most guys trouble, and having a small forward rotation of Barnes/Kidd-Gilchrist, Chris Singleton, and Cartier Martin will give Washington enough big, long, willing defenders to switch with him when necessary, plus Wall is big enough to guard most shooting guards. Playing for Memphis in the Conference USA, his competition wasn't as talented as it might have been if he'd played for a team like UNC or Kansas, but it was still reasonably good enough that it shouldn't discount his contributions to the team. And wow, those contributions bode well for his NBA future:

Basic Statistics Per 40 Pace Adjusted

Year

GP

Min

Pts

FG

FGA

FG%

2P%

3Pt

3PtA

3P%

FTA

FT%

Off

Def

TOT

Asts

Stls

Blks

TOs

2010/11

35

30.6

15.3

5.9

13.9

42.8

52.7

1.4

5.2

26.5

3.0

69.9

1.7

4.4

6.2

3.5

1.9

0.6

3.2

2011/12

35

35.3

19.9

7.2

14.2

50.9

55.9

1.2

3.4

34.6

5.6

74.9

2.2

6.6

8.8

3.2

1.6

0.8

2.4

From DraftExpress.com
http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Will-Barton-5737/stats/

Generally speaking, great NBA players tend to have pretty standard statistics in college - they shoot a high percentage on two pointers, rack up a lot of blocks, steals, rebounds, and free throw attempts, and shoot a high percentage from the free throw line. As a sophmore shooting guard, Barton's pace adjusted stats were those of a lottery pick, with elite rebounding, foul drawing, block, and steal numbers for a shooting guard. He didn't shoot well from the floor, but his two point percentage was good for a perimeter guy, and his free throw percentage was high enough that it's reasonable to think that he'll develop a three point shot at some point in his NBA career - my general rule of thumb is that guys who shoot in the mid 70s on free throws eventually shoot in the low 30s on threes, while guys who hit 80% or more of their free throws, which Barton could conceivably do fairly soon, eventually become 35% and up three point shooters, which bodes well for his ability to space the floor and shoot from midrange. So basically you have a guy who will come into the league as an at least above average, perhaps elite for his position, athlete who can shoot, occasionally create his own shot, excels playing in an up-tempo offense, has good size for his position, can defend his position, and might be able to defend point guards and/or small forwards depending on how much time he spends in the weight room. To be fair, he had a reputation coming out of high school for being selfish with the ball and showing poor body language according to Draft Express, and his team didn't have a particularly good record last year. However, the risk is worth the potential reward when it comes to a player that could fit the team like a glove. And what will he cost Washington? Most likely three million dollars and maybe a second round pick.

So what do you think? Is Will Barton worth it? Is Bradley Beal so much better than Kidd-Gilchrist or Harrison Barnes that the Wizards should look for a small forward or big with any other picks they have? And am I completely wrong about Barton and he's going to be a bust?

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.