Barton’s breakout season

Nuggets guard Will Barton, a 6-foot-6, 175-pound fourth-year pro, is an early leading candidate for the NBA’s sixth-man-of-the-year award, an amazing ascension for a relatively unknown player. • He attended four Baltimore-area high schools in five years — including a senior year at Brewster Academy, where ESPN rated him the best prep shooting guard in the nation, ahead of Dion Waiters, among others. • He was picked 40th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2012 NBA draft, 20 slots behind Nuggets selection Evan Fournier and two behind Quincy Miller, neither of whom plays for Denver now. • He has played in all 40 games this season but has made only one start. He ranks second in points (averaging 15.8), behind only Danilo Gallinari, and second in rebounds (6.3), ahead of each of Denver’s centers.