Sources: Will Barton agrees to four-year, $53M deal to return to Nuggets

Will Barton averaged 15.7 points and 4.1 assists per game for Denver last season. (AP)
Will Barton averaged 15.7 points and 4.1 assists per game for Denver last season. (AP)

Free-agent guard Will Barton has agreed to a four-year, $53 million deal to return to the Denver Nuggets, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Barton will hold a player option in the fourth year of the deal, league sources said.

Barton rejected a four-year, $42 million extension offer with the Nuggets before last season and banked on his own performance. Agent Aaron Goodwin negotiated a more lucrative contract with Denver’s front office.

Barton, 27, was one of the most talented wing players on the market and the Nuggets’ top priority in free agency. Barton averaged a career-high 15.7 points, five rebounds and 4.1 assists in 80 games (40 starts) last season, cementing himself as a veteran leader and critical scorer for the Nuggets.

Barton met with Nuggets officials this week in Baltimore, the hometown of the 6-foot-6 swingman and Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly.

Barton has played six NBA seasons for Denver and Portland. He was the No. 40 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft out of the University of Memphis.

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