Like Houston withChandler Parsons, Portland locked up Barton on a 3 year contract immediately in his rookie signing period. They obviously see value in him and hope he's able to contribute in the near future to make the investment worth while. As a previously projected 1st round pick in last years draft, he fell to the 2nd round for what some believed to be a skinny frame that could not viably add weight and a skill set that wasn't quite SG nor SF. What's certain, is he's slowly but surely turning the corner from out of control ball of energy to playing within the flow of our teams offense.

I'm a strong believer in what Neil Olshey says when preaching "Asset Acquisition". As it can be done in many different ways and he's been proving it: Helping to facilitateCelticsacquistion ofCourtney Leeby taking Pavlovic and $ to pay his contract and a 2013 2nd rounder, Felton's S&T for Jeffries, $ for his contract (pretty sure we got some), Kosta Papanikolou and the other Greek that got usEric Maynorand even the ones that may have not quite paid off: JJ Hickson's 1 year deal didn't pan out as well at the trade deadline but keeping him has not been bad for either party.

I'll be the first to admit, he hasn't made splashes. But even contractually, we're in rebuilding mode. Similarly, if things go well this summer andElliot Williamsis still waiting to sign, I expect what many fans hope, that NO signs Elliot for close to nothing (500K-750K/yr) with options for following years. That could turn into good to great value. That's what makes Barton's contract pretty nice, even if he doesn't pan out quite the way we hope, his value is still low enough to trade for something of value, such as a draft pick; 1st or 2nd round. Some teams are strapped for cash, identifying these teams is easier than it may seem. The CBA also makes it harder for some to take risks in the draft. In this years "weak" draft, a team may prefer to take on lower salary and less years with Barton's contract than pay more than twice the amount for a pick they could get stuck with for the same duration or more. At the very least, Barton's contract is easily tradeable for a 2nd rounder which would take his contract off the books. But that is pretty unlikely and unwise at the value.

My question to you all is Barton and his contract capable of us a receiving a late 1st rd pick this year? Has he shown enough or does he still have that potential intrigue?