Barry's skills are considered a perfect fit for the Spurs. Chris Covatta/NBAE/Getty

This summer, by signing with the San Antonio Spurs, Barry officially blew his cover. Within the span of a few months, Barry went from relatively anonymous to being considered the pivotal player in the race for the Western Conference Championship and a quality pick for the U.S. Olympic Team.

"And when it's over, the way the Pistons talked last month about Rasheed, the way the Yankees are going to be talking about RJ, and the way the cast of "Cheers" talked about the arrival of Woody after Coach passed, everyone in San Antonio will be talking about Brent Barry, the lynchpin," wrote ESPN.com's Eric Neel in July (though it should be pointed out Neel is something of a Sonics fan).

"The U.S. should have recruited a pass-friendly, zone-breaking NBA gunner like Brent Barry," argued CNNSI.com's Chris Ballard in August.

Finally, in the days before the start of the season, NBA GMs and TNT's NBA crew concurred that Barry's acquisition was the most underrated move made this off-season. (Which raises the important question of just how underrated it can be if everyone is talking about it being underrated.)

Given all the pressure apparently being put on Barry, there were those who wondered if it was too much when Barry slumped during the preseason, connecting on just five of his first 27 shots. Speaking with the Seattle media before making his return to the KeyArena hardwood with the Spurs Sunday night, Barry dismissed that concern.

"It's not something I was worried about," Barry said. "I was thinking so much about trying to run the plays the right way, be in the right spot, just get adjusted to a whole new system, both offensively and, more importantly, defensively. There's so many more things to think about. It's not so much the skills I was worried about, just getting down the system."

While Barry points out, "I've done it before," it being changing teams, it's fair to assume that he had achieved something of a comfort zone after spending five years with the Sonics, nearly the last four with the same head coach. There are naturally adjustments to be made. One of the most complicated may come off the court. Barry was the unquestioned leader in the Sonics locker room, but San Antonio had already established a leadership core of its own while being one of the NBA's most successful teams since drafting Tim Duncan in 1997. How Barry fits into the Spurs locker room remains to be seen.

"With this team, I think it takes a good 20 games to figure out exactly what your role is going to be," Barry said. "That's something I'm going to have to get used to - play these first two months of the season and find out what the team is going to need from me and what my role is going to be and, from there, maybe take steps in terms of being more vocal and trying to pick up on things - what certain players need, what they don't need to hear, and go from there, just to make the unit stronger."

On the court, Barry is making the adjustment to coming off the bench instead of starting, as he did most of his tenure in Seattle. After moving to point guard following the trade of teammate Gary Payton in February 2002, Barry is now primarily playing shooting guard, along with a little at small forward.

Barry ranks amongst all-time Sonics leaders in threes, assists and steals. Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty

"It's going well so far," Barry said of the adjustment. "It's a team that has so many great players already in place with the core group of guys that's back that won a championship and last year was so close. I'm just trying to fit in and do the things that I can to do to help them out."

The Spurs were one of the favorites to win the Western Conference entering the playoffs, but surrendered a 2-0 lead against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals and fell in six games amidst questions about their outside shooting. Enter Barry, one of the NBA's premier marksman and a 42.9% three-point shooter during his five seasons with the Sonics who led the league in that category during the 2000-01 season.

Barry doesn't mind the expectations placed on him or the Spurs as a team.

"It's enjoyable to know that that kind of pressure is on you and you have to go out and perform," Barry said. "That just means that you're going to have to work a lot harder to stay on top, and that's something that Coach Pop (Gregg Popovich) is always telling us about, how we want to focus in on every game to try to get better so by the end of the season we're playing our best basketball."

It's not basketball that Barry's worried about. Making friends in a new city? Now that's tough, as Barry explained with his trademark wit.

"There's so many other things that go on besides the basketball part - getting settled, getting the kids in school, trying to meet new friends," Barry said. "When you get to be 30 years old, it's hard to make new friends. I don't want a bunch of basketball friends - they eat too much."

It's clear that the move to San Antonio has done nothing to change Barry's sense of humor, which has always connected well with fans and the media.

"Seattle will always be a special place for me and my wife because my son was born here," he said. "He'll be a water-logged kid, I think, for the rest of his life."

Later, on the development of his replacement, Luke Ridnour, Barry said, "He better start playing better. If he's crediting me with his development, I hope he starts making a few more shots."

Barry is happy in San Antonio and feels that, as Sonics GM Rick Sund encouraged him to do, he made the decision that was best for him. Still, his ties to the Sonics remain strong.

"I talk to these guys on the phone, I talked to them through the summer," Barry said of his former teammates. "I talked to Nick (Collison) about how his shoulders were feeling. I have ties with these guys that go beyond the basketball court, I’m friends with these guys. I’ll check up on them as time goes by."