Scottie Barnes came in at number fifteen on The Athletic NBA Daily’s list of the top 30 NBA players—and for good reason. He is a young two-way star fresh off an outstanding playoff run that highlighted his limitless potential.
Barnes still needs to replicate the kind of scoring force he showed in the playoffs over a regular season to validate that top-fifteen ranking. At the same time, there’s also already a clear pathway for him to rise even higher than fifteenth on the list.
“He shot it really well in the playoffs,” Andrew Schlecht said on the August 19 episode of the podcast. “He did not shoot it well in the regular season from three. Can that be something that gets better? If it does, then he might be higher on this list by this time next year.”
Scottie Barnes would be unstoppable with a reliable 3-point shot
As Schlecht mentioned, Barnes shot it very well from deep in the playoffs, sinking 38.1% of his three attempts per game. However, it was only a small sample size and well above his regular-season averages. He shot just 30.4% on 2.8 attempts last season, which was very much in line with his 30.1% career average. He only shot above 31% in the 2023-24 season when he sank 34.1% of his 4.9 attempts per game.
If Barnes can eventually shoot somewhere from 36% to 39%, defenses just won’t have an answer for him. He’s already an excellent passer, averaging around six assists per game for three consecutive seasons, and a strong scorer inside the arc. Barnes shot 69.4% in the restricted area last season, 45.7% in the paint, and 44.6% in the mid-range while averaging 18 points per game.
How do you guard someone who can do all of that AND knock down enough 3-pointers to keep defenders on their toes?
And then on top of that, Barnes is also already one of the best defenders in the NBA. He can guard every position, racks up steals and blocks at a high rate, and delivers in clutch time. No one recorded more clutch blocks than he did last season.
If Barnes improves as a 3-point shooter, the sky is truly the limit for him. It would also open up new opportunities for the Raptors. Their starting lineup is expected to feature three players who either don’t shoot 3-pointers at all or do so with little success in Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Jakob Poeltl. Collin Murray-Boyles and Jamal Shead, two of the Raptors’ top reserves, also aren’t great 3-point shooters at this point in their careers.
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