50 greatest NBA players from the 1990s — 48. Dana Barros
When the Seattle SuperSonics drafted Boston College guard Dana Barros with the 16th overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft, they were hoping to get some outside shooting and some decent point guard play behind Gary Payton.
A reserve for most of his four years in Seattle, Barros led the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage in 1991-92, hitting 44.6 percent. During his time with the Sonics, Barros averaged 8.1 points, two assists and 1.3 rebounds in 17 minutes per game, shooting .449/.407/.829.
The turning point came in September 1993 when he was dealt with Eddie Johnson and a 1994 first-round pick to Philadelphia for Kendall Gill and a 1994 first-rounder.
Barros, for lack of a better term, went off with the Sixers. He was an All-Star in 1995, as well as winning Most Improved Player honors that season. He was fifth in 3-pointers made in 1993-94 and fourth in 1994-95, also finishing third in 3-point percentage and free-throw shooting that season.
In two years with Philadelphia, Barros averaged 16.9 points, 6.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 35.8 minutes, shooting .481/.426/.872.
He left the Sixers to return to Boston, signing as a free agent in September 1995, but things weren’t quite the same as a Celtic.
He was fourth in the league in free-throw shooting in 1995-96. But a back injury sidelined him for most of the 1996-97 season and he was never quite the same thereafter. In the 1990s with Boston, Barros averaged 11.1 points and 3.8 assists in 25.1 minutes a game, shooting .460./.406/.867.
For the decade, Barros was 14th with 963 made 3-pointers.
He remained with the Celtics for another season before he went to the Dallas Mavericks as part of a four-team trade in August 2000. He never played for the Mavs, however, as he was subsequently dealt to the Detroit Pistons in October 2000. He returned to Boston as a free agent in August 2004 before retiring.