Wizards had to take Will Barton to get primary target Monte Morris in trade?

Before the Washington Wizards secured Bradley Beal long-term on a new five-year, $251 million supermax deal they sought a starting point guard to pair with the three-time All-Star. Washington found one in Monte Morris, working a four-player trade with the Denver Nuggets ahead of free agency.

The Wizards sent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith to Denver in the deal. But in order to get Morris, Washington had to take Will Barton, according to the Denver Post’s Mike Singer.

Singer recently spoke with 106.7 the Fan’s Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier to explain the trade from the Nuggets perspective.

“My understanding is that in order to get Monte Morris, the Wizards had to accept Will Barton as well,” Singer said. “So I think Monte was kind of the target and I think Will Barton was the grease to that deal. I’m not sure how much interest there was league-wide in Will Barton, but the Nuggets wanted to get better defensively, so they obviously made the calculus: Will and Monte going out, and adding a defender and three-point shooter in KCP was a better aggregate talent total for them in their championship pursuit.”

The Nuggets made both Barton and Morris available after they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors. It’s known the Wizards targeted Morris. Thus it’s interesting that the two were moved in the same deal.

Morris, 27, is expected to start at point guard for the Wizards. Last season he started 74 games for Denver in the absence of the injured Jamal Murray. Morris averaged career highs of 12.6 points, 4.4 assists and 3.0 rebounds. He also shot 39.5% from three.

With Murray set to come back next season, Morris became expendable. Even in the starting point guard role in 2021-22, Morris deferred primary ball handling responsibilities to two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. In Washington he’ll be the primary ball handler and those numbers could skyrocket.

The Wizards are sure to be happy about the 31-year old Barton even if he was an add-on. He averaged 14.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 71 games last season, his eighth in Denver. Now, the 12-year veteran gets an opportunity to thrive next to a scoring guard such as Beal and forward Kyle Kuzma.

Barton offsets the loss of Caldwell-Pope. The two mimic some skill sets. But Barton is probably a better playmaker. The Nuggets wanted to get an upgrade on defense for losing Morris. Denver certainly did by landing KCP. It’s a small price to pay for Washington to get their ideal starting point guard.

Barton and Morris reunite with Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr., who was the lead assistant coach for the Nuggets from 2015-21.

Meanwhile, history has shown us that Wizards general manager Tommy Sheppard is not afraid to move pieces to find fits for the team. Last season, he moved Spencer Dinwiddie and Montrezl Harrell just months after acquiring them in the previous offseason. If Barton is just an add-on and doesn’t pan out, nothing will stop Sheppard from flipping Barton for another player down the road.