Emmanuel Mudiay was expected to be the Denver Nuggets up-and-coming superstar, but with a rough start and a recent injury, it seems that Denver may have set the bar too high for the No. 7 overall pick.

Will Barton, on the other hand, is the new shining star for the Denver Nuggets. Even though he solely took the blame for the Nuggets loss to his old team, the Portland Trailblazers, he has been one of the most important players to the Nuggets’ success all season.

On Tuesday night, Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post joined Notaro and Big Dee of Mile High Sports AM 1340 to talk about the Nuggets, where they discussed Barton’s impact.

“Will Barton has been great,” Dempsey said. “He hasn’t been great lately. But he has been great overall this season and I think it has been very interesting watching his progression”

Regarding Barton’s drop-off in performance, Dempsey remarked:

“In the first month and a half of the season he could do whatever he wanted to do because he just was not a priority to opposing teams in the way that he is now. Now their loading up to his size when he catches the ball,their keeping him out of the lane, and putting better defenders on him.”

So far this season Barton has had career high in points (15.5), minutes played (29.2), rebounds (6.1), and assists (2.4). With the season not even being close to over, we can expect a lot more to come from Barton .

For the full discussion between Chris Dempsey and Notaro and Big Dee, plus a look at what the emergence of Nikola Jokic means for Jusuf Nurkic, listen to the podcast below …

Catch Notaro and Big Dee Monday through Thursday from 6p-8p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of what’s new and what’s next in Colorado sports.