In the 2010 NBA offseason, Matt Barnes was negotiating an exit from the Orlando Magic and all signs pointed to him heading north.
He even took to Twitter to thank Magic fans and announce that he’d be “playing for the Toronto Raptors” in the upcoming season.
But the deal fell apart – Toronto had previously spent the majority of their mid-level exception on small forward Linas Kleiza, and now didn’t have the money they had already offered Barnes.
On Friday, Barnes shared his perspective of the saga in an interview on The JD Bunkis Podcast.
“[My agent] was like, ‘Oh, you got a really good offer from Toronto,’ and I’m like, ‘okay, dope,’ I like Toronto, I’m a fan of Toronto, my brother played for the Argonauts,” said Barnes, who retired in 2017. “The deal ended up being not what they initially offered, and I went to the Lakers.”
The then-29-year-old was already a seasoned NBA player and a highly touted role-player. Barnes was a player that fit the Raptors profile at the time.
Barnes was in negotiations with title contenders in the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers – where he eventually signed – before the Raptors entered the conversation with an aggressive offer.
Until Friday, Barnes had no context of why that offer deteriorated.
“I never knew who the player was and that he offered the mid level twice or a few times,” he laughed. “If I would’ve known I probably would have said something, so I’m probably thinking [my agent] knew me well enough not to tell me about the mess that they made.”
Aside from the offer being more generous, Barnes was excited to go to Toronto – even after being recruited personally by Kobe Bryant – because of his and his brother’s love for the city.
“[My brother] would just rave about the city and how much support they had out there,” said Barnes. “Once I got into city, I always had a good time – it would have been a cool opportunity.”
Kleiza played three seasons with the Raptors where he averaged 9.8 points per game. On his end, Barnes was underwhelming with the Lakers for two seasons before crossing the street and being a significant role-player on the ‘lob-city’ Clippers – the place he started his career.
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