How do you like Barton now, Nuggets fans?

Will Barton, long a favorite punching bag of the Nuggets fanbase, landed a few haymakers of his own this week.

Unlike MVP teammate Nikola Jokic, however, none of them resulted in a fine or suspension.

Will Barton — A

Oh, how the tables have turned in Mile High Basketball country.

Throughout Barton’s eight seasons in Denver, a small, but vocal lunatic fringe within the Nuggets fanbase has begged for him to take a seat. On Wednesday night, they were asking for him to take a bow.

That’s when Barton had Jokic’s back (again, figuratively speaking) against the Indiana Pacers.

With Jokic unavailable due to a one-game suspension for his blindside pummeling of Markieff Morris on Monday, Barton took on the role of No. 1 option for the better part of four quarters. What followed was a 30-point, six-rebound, three-assist tour de force that turned what many thought was a sure-fire loss into a triumphant 101-98 win.

The folks inside the Grading the Week offices couldn’t have been happier for Denver’s oft-slandered shooting guard.

If anyone deserves a moment on the Nuggets roster, it’s Barton, who’s well aware of his “fall guy” status among fans.

“It’s just weird since we’ve gotten good, I’ve just been the guy that if it goes wrong people are just going to automatically just go off on me,” Barton told The Post’s Mike Singer on a recent Nuggets Ink podcast. “Every sports team that’s a good sports team has a ‘fall guy.’ On our team, I’m that guy.”

Perhaps it’s time we permanently put those days behind us.

Anyone who’s been paying attention to the Nuggets knows Barton has been more Thrill than Spill. With Michael Porter Jr. hobbled and struggling, the 30-year-old veteran has been a clear No. 2 on the offensive end.

Just about every advanced stat available points to Barton’s value to a team missing one of its most proficient shot creators (Jamal Murray). Fully healthy after a string of injury-plagued years, he entered Friday night’s game against Atlanta ranked No. 2 among Nuggets regulars in PER, VORP, MPB and true shooting percentage.

For a team desperately in need of a second banana, Barton has proven himself capable of handling that role.

And, as Wednesday night’s performance illustrated, he can be the main course sometimes as well.

Rockies management — D

What was obvious at the trade deadline has become painfully clear with MLB’S offseason now underway.

Not only did Rockies management err in not getting something in return for shortstop Trevor Story in late July, they made a similar mistake not doing the same with starting pitcher Jon Gray.

If the plan was to lowball the 2013 first-round pick in contract talks, Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt should’ve anticipated Gray’s representation would balk and he’d be put in the impossible position of choosing between extending an $18.4 million qualifying offer or rolling the dice Gray would eventually agree to their terms.

Unfortunately, it appears Schmidt didn’t foresee those circumstances in his crystal ball. Gray never came back to the table, and the Rockies declined to extend him a qualifying offer earlier this week. Which means the Rockies now face the prospect of watching Gray and Story sign elsewhere as free agents and getting one measly compensatory pick back in return.

Not exactly a haul for a franchise that desperately needs to start restocking its flagging farm system.