The Toronto Raptors refuse to mail it in on the season.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday that free agent wing Will Barton will be signing with the Raptors. Barton, 32, was bought out by the Washington Wizards earlier this month and is thus eligible for the playoffs.
A sturdy role player, Barton averaged 7.7 points in 19.6 minutes per game off the bench for the Wizards this season. The year before that, he had 14.7 points per game in 32.1 minutes a game as a starter for the Denver Nuggets. Barton is an above-average three-point shooter (38.0 percent this season) and has multipositional defensive versatility at 6-foot-6.
Though they are still just 30-32 on the year (ninth in the East), the Raptors held onto all of their key pieces at the trade deadline. Now the addition of Barton, who is a tone-setter in more ways than one, further signifies that Toronto intends to gun for a playoff spot.
