TORONTO — Arguably for the first time since Scottie Barnes became a Toronto Raptor, he wasn’t the primary story as the team began training camp.
Barnes was predictably front-and-centre as a rookie, being the No. 4 pick in the 2021 draft (the Raptors’ reward for the “Tampa Tank”) and his development has been closely — almost too closely — monitored in the four years since, given that he was the NBA’s rookie-of-the-year and then anointed as the team’s franchise player of the future in Year 2, showed promise in earning an all-star nod in Year 3, and cemented his status when he signed a five-year contract for $224 million heading into Year 4.
But as the Raptors gathered for media day on Monday before flying out to Calgary for training camp for his fifth professional training camp, Barnes and his progress wasn’t automatically deemed the single most significant variable that will dictate what the Raptors accomplish this season.
It’s not that he’s been pushed aside in any way, shape or form: the just-turned 24-year-old enters his fifth season as one of the NBA’s most versatile talents and the only player in the league to average at least 19.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks over the past two years.
In many ways, his ability to make plays for others offensively, plus grab rebounds and transition and fly around and create havoc defensively, remain the template for how head coach Darko Rajakovic wants his team to play this season.
“When we talk about defence, I really believe that the standard for us, everything starts with Scottie Barnes,” Rajakovic said Monday. “He’s one of the most elite defensive players in this league. He’s one of the guys that plays for the team and tries to win every single possession. So, our identity starts with him.”
But it doesn’t end with him, which is a new a welcome change.
There is no argument the Raptors are a better team than the one that is coming off 25- and 30-win seasons the past two years, and hasn’t made the playoffs since Barnes’ rookie season.
The reason for that is fairly obvious.
“I mean, this is no secret, you add Brandon Ingram to the mix, it changes things,” said Raptors wing RJ Barrett, who was speaking about how the presence of Ingram as a former all-star wing could affect his role, a take that nevertheless succinctly sums up why the Raptors’ energy heading into the season is different.
Raptors veteran centre Jakob Poeltl wasn’t trying to hedge either. There are higher expectations for this team, and the expectations are internal.
“I think there’s been a very clear line for us to just attack this season and try to get back into a winning position,” said Poeltl, who in the off-season signed a three-year contract extension valued at $84 million. “We’ve talked about this development plan, and we knew there was going to be some down phases. But we also knew that we didn’t want to be stuck in, like, a rebuilding phase for a long time. We wanted to do what’s necessary, but then be a winning team again as soon as possible.
“(And) we want to win now. So yeah, for us to be a winning team, we got to get back to the playoffs. I think that’s the obvious first step. We got to have one of those young-team breakout years, where we might surprise some of the teams. And I think we have it in us.”
The primary difference maker is the presence of Ingram, a nine-year veteran who just turned 28. His availability issues are real — various injuries over his career have seen him average just 52 games a year over the last eight seasons — but so is the talent. It’s why the Raptors signed him to a three-year, $120-million extension after they traded for him in February.
“On the floor, he’s super-skilled. He can make any tough shot that’s possible,” Barnes said. “And he’s been more of a willing passer, where he’s able to drive to the rim or drive to his spots and be able to create for others, throwing those kick-out passes, he’s been pushing the ball, running in transition. So, being around him and being able to see how talented he is, he’s phenomenal. He can do so many things on the floor. He’s going to help us a lot this year. He’s going to demand so much attention.”
Having a six-foot-eight wing who puts the ball on the floor, knocks down threes (over 39 per cent from deep three times in his career) and makes plays for others (averaged 5.6 assists the past four seasons) and also scores (23 points per game over the past six seasons) is a luxury most teams don’t have.
Being able to pair him with another six-foot-eight wing who can put the ball on the floor makes players for others and score in Barnes could be the foundation of something special — or at least intriguing.
Ingram certainly feels that way, especially after missing all but 18 games last season because of an ankle injury and starting this season in a new uniform for the first time since he joined the Pelicans in 2019-20.
“I’m just excited to bring my skill level and make things easier for other guys,” Ingram said. “Playmaking, scoring the basketball, defence, getting steals, going on the other end, and just having fun. It does feel like a fresh start, all the new faces, new coaches, learning new things. So hopefully I can show my full game.”
But the Raptors won’t reach their full potential unless Barnes reaches his.
The fifth-year wing deserves considerable credit for showing signs that he can reach the sky-high expectations that the Raptors had for him when he was drafted.
Has he quite emerged as the top 10 or top 15 talent that former Raptors president Masai Ujiri envisioned for him when he was a rookie, as someone a championship team can be built around?
Not quite. That category of player is typically more efficient offensively than Barnes has shown himself to be, which will forever be a challenge as long as he shoots just 30.0 per cent from three, as he has to date. Or perhaps Barnes’ full potential won’t be realized until the Raptors do a better job of surrounding him with floor-spreading shooters to give him more room to ramble to the rim and make plays from there, like a slightly undersized Giannis Antetokounmpo?
A story for another day, perhaps.
But for now, Barnes has shown enough that there is plenty of reason to believe heading into Year 5 that those lofty peaks are still within his grasp. More often than not, he makes the hard parts of basketball look easy. He is a casual genius, but it’s been built over time.
“I think, coming out of college, I was more on the defensive side. I was great defensively. I was good at getting to the basket and playing physical, but I think my game has grown so much,” Barnes said. “I think my ball handling has gotten way better — being able to drive to the basket, being able to finish there, doing different moves. Before college, I wasn’t really pulling up in the mid-range and shooting turnaround fades … so my game has grown tremendously and I’m going to continue to get better every single year. I love the process. That’s what we do this for.”
The difference this season on the eve of training camp is that even as the so-called face of the franchise, Barnes has help in the form of Ingram to share the load and the rising expectations that come with being a max player on a team that hasn’t made the playoffs for three seasons.
“I think our expectation of our team is definitely to make the playoffs and win some games in the playoffs,” said Barnes, echoing a theme for the day. “That’s the standard, that’s the bottom line with how talented we are and what we should be able to achieve. We’re hungry, we’ve got a lot to prove and we’re gonna go out and show it.”
Barnes will have to lead the way, but with Ingram on hand, he won’t be alone out front.
