Raptors: 3 reasons to get hyped about the Scottie Barnes pick

2021 NBA Draft night kicked off on July 29th as expected, with the top three picks of the board being Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green, and Evan Mobley. As the Toronto Raptors were on the clock to lock in their pick, even ESPN began to show the college highlight reel of Jalen Suggs. At the last minute, Barnes ended up with the pick.

You could hear the collective shock of Raptors Nation as Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster shocked the basketball world by going ahead with Barnes as the No. 4 pick in the draft. Now that the proverbial dust has settled, if you haven’t already, please take a few deep breaths and exhale while repeating the mantra: In Masai We Trust.

At the Draft Combine, Barnes thoroughly impressed scouts with his 2.99-second shuttle run (second best at the combine), and he also recorded a 36-inch standing vertical (third-best mark amongst all combine participants). Clearly, the Raptors believe in his athletic ability.

Now let’s take a look at Barnes and how he could potentially meet or exceed expectations based on his raw skills, talent, and potential. Here are 3 reasons to get hyped about Barnes and his future in this league.

Toronto Raptors: 3 reasons to get hyped about Scottie Barnes

1. Point-Forward skills

Barnes is a freakishly athletic forward who reads the floor extremely well and has a knack for finding his teammates in the right spots. With Florida State, Barnes averaged a team-high 4.1 assists per game. His 2.05 AST/TO ratio ranked third among power-five freshmen.

Standing 6-7 tall, Barnes is easily able to grab defensive rebounds and has the handles to kick start the fast break himself. He’s got Ben Simmons’ like potential in transition with his ability to read defenses on the fly, find the 3-point shooter, and use his height advantage to spot the man cutting to the hoop, often with flashy no-look passes.

Other times, he grabs defensive boards and is comfortable throwing classic quarterback heat-seeker passes to find his teammates leading the break. If he sees the lane open, he’s able to cut aggressively to the rim and is athletic enough to posterize defenders, very similar to an old-school banger like Darius Miles.

Clearly, the elephant in the room is that he currently doesn’t possess an NBA jump-shot or a developed offensive game.

Last year with the Seminoles, he shot a paltry 11-of-40 from beyond the arc and just 62% from the free-throw line. To gain the respect of NBA defenders and improve floor spacing for his teammates, Barnes will have to become a scoring threat and work on his ability to create his own shot.

The silver lining is that the team’s development and shooting coaches were able to take Norman Powell from being a poor shooter in college to one of the leagues’ most dangerous threats from three-point territory. With Barnes’ reputation as a gym rat, he will have every opportunity to build up his offensive arsenal.