4 realistic goals for Raptors’ young players in 2023-24 season

Scottie Barnes: Make the All-Star team

Even though Pascal Siakam is still in town, everyone around the Raptors has been very upfront about their desire to transition to a new era in which Barnes is at the center of everything the Raptors try to do. The training wheels are off this year, and big things are to be expected.

Now is the time when players picked as high as Barnes start to show if they are long-term stars, role players, or inadequate for retention. Barnes’ scoring flatlined last year, and such development would be wholly unsatisfactory and inadequate for a player being tagged as the savior.

Scottie Barnes must get better for the Toronto Raptors.

Is it unreasonable for the pro-am superstar to improve his scoring from 15.3 points per game to somewhere close to 20 points per game? If his alleged shooting improvements are to be believed and many of Fred VanVleet’s shots get allocated to him, such a jump would not be out of the ordinary.

Barnes will be a monster on the glass once again, and the loss of VanVleet could also lead to him getting more opportunities to initiate the offense. His passing skills could make him a double-double machine in the right scheme, and it might give him an edge when the All-Star votes start rolling in.