Scottie Barnes is coming into his sophomore campaign with the mission of taking another big step. The 2022 Rookie of the Year proved that he was enough to keep the Toronto Raptors a playoff team after one poor season allowed them to get the 4th pick and draft Barnes.
The team will face the challenging question of how to build around Barnes with their old competitive core of Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and OG Anunoby. The Raptors can stand pat and be a Playoff team, especially with the levels of talent Barnes has shown already. This offseason, the 21-year-old is proving why the Raptors should bet on him as their future.
As most NBA players do, Barnes has been extremely active at basketball camps at places. He was spotted at the Rico Hines camp, locking up James Harden. At a local pro-am run in Toronto, Barnes decided to show off his ability by draining a free throw with his eyes closed.
Scottie Barnes was trying everything at the Ball Don't Stop Pro-Am 😅
(via @sidelinesources) pic.twitter.com/dnSg9BYupe
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 21, 2022
The Raptors are heading into the absolutely packed Eastern Conference playoff picture with a solid roster. They gave the Philadelphia 76ers a run after going down 0-3 in the series, proving that they weren’t regular season flukes.
Barnes has plugged into the existing roster that the Raptors had, but his breakout rookie season has many wondering if the Raptors should retool their roster and find complementary players that are closer to Barnes’ age. The team’s lack of 7-footers could be addressed by adding one of the team veterans in a trade to acquire someone.
The Raptors are one of the best-run franchises in the NBA, and Masai Ujiri definitely has a plan for the possibly transcendent talent on his hands. Barnes has a very bright future, and if the Raptors give him the right opportunities, the team could set themselves up for long-term success.
