The upcoming 2025-26 season will mark NBA year five in Scottie Barnes' career.
It's honestly crazy how fast time flies, especially in basketball, where players who were just starting out are quickly becoming seasoned veterans right before our eyes. Barnes's career took off with the ultimate highlight, earning NBA Rookie of the Year in his debut season, but the years since have been a bit of a rollercoaster. It’s not that Barnes has been playing poorly; in fact, he’s largely maintained the same level of production and consistency. Yet, after such a stellar start with that Rookie of the Year season, many expected him to take many steps forward.
That long-anticipated leap, however, has yet to fully materialize.
Now, depending on who you ask, what that 'leap' would look like for Scottie Barnes can feel pretty subjective. Here's a guy whose career stats so far read as follows: 17.2 points on 46.6% field goal shooting, 30% from three, 7.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.0 blocks. Quite impressive, to say the least. And I largely feel like the discourse around Barnes as a player has shifted from that expectation of him skyrocketing to an average of say, 22, 23, 24+ points per game, to merely keeping up his consistency in all areas across the entire board (although a jump in scoring would be nice too, especially improving his three-point efficiency).
As the 2025-26 season approaches, the key for Barnes is to keep building on his shot creation. With all the new additions to the team, especially Brandon Ingram, the focus is no longer on Barnes carrying the load alone. Instead, his ability to find the right teammates (alongside lead guard Immanuel Quickley) will be crucial in establishing chemistry and success with this revamped roster. In fact, NBA draft expert Sam Vecenie recently discussed this very point on his Game Theory Podcast, and one particular striking comment got me thinking: "If Scottie Barnes takes a step forward, this team could win 50 [games]."
Scottie Barnes must improve shot creation to spark Raptors’ success
During Toronto's preseason game against Denver on October 6, Barnes contributed with five assists, which was the most on the team alongside backup guard Jamal Shead. However, his other stats were largely disappointing: he scored only 1 point on 0-for-6 shooting, committed four personal fouls, and a plus/minus of -10. He'd sit out the next two exhibition games against Sacramento and Boston respectively, so that lone poor showing is all we've had thus far to analyze Barnes.
However, judging him based on just one preseason game wouldn’t be entirely fair. Be that as it may, Barnes should be able to create for himself while also looking out for his teammates. He is certainly capable of scoring on his own, especially on the drive and mid-range shots, and we've definitely seen that Barnes can play the bully ball style. However, he will need time to adjust to the new look, as it won't be easy to pick up right where he left off with such a ball-dominant player like Brandon Ingram now in the mix.
I’m just not sure if Raptors Nation will be satisfied watching Barnes struggle to generate his own offense, even if he excels at setting up others. Finding the right balance between these aspects is important, and Scottie Barnes may need to make some key adjustments to his game to help elevate and maximize this optimistic Raptors core.