3 ways Raptors can still win without Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet

1. Give Scottie Barnes the keys

While Barnes was playing arguably his worst professional game before the fourth quarter against Dallas, he was able to turn it on in the fourth quarter, becoming the youngest player in team history to record a triple-double. He’ll be in focus with all this firepower out.

While O.G. Anunoby will be asked to take on a bigger role and Gary Trent Jr. will get the green light to bomb away from 3-point range, who is going to bring the ball up the flo,or, defend whomever Nurse asks him to, get to the rim, and be a threat from the perimeter? This scenario is exactly why Toronto drafted Barnes.

Scottie Barnes must star for the Toronto Raptors.

On one hand, Barnes’ lack of aggression in taking the ball to the rim has been problematic. On the other, he has become a 42% 3-point shooter over the course of one offseason, showing that he can be an effective offensive player away from the rim.

With Siakam having missed the first part of last year due to his shoulder surgery and VanVleet’s body starting to fail him late last year, Barnes showed he can be a trusted primary or secondary scoring option. He’ll need to perform similarly well this time around, albeit witcouldhe pressure sightly kicked up.