No topic has infuriated Raptors Nation as much lately as Scottie Barnes’s All-NBA snub, which came shortly after he also didn’t make the All-Defensive First Team despite a versatile and impressive season on that end of the floor.
On the May 24 episode of the Game Theory Podcast, The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie noted that one reason for the snub was that people just don’t watch the Toronto Raptors enough. Another thing that could have factored into voters’ decisions to put other players over Barnes on their ballot may be that they undervalue his playmaking.
“Scottie Barnes brings the ball up the court all the time,” Vecenie said. “He grabs and goes in transition. He’s an elite passer for somebody who’s his size. That’s the thing that I think gets missed, the passing and the playmaking. We’re way undervaluing what the passing and playmaking is with Scottie Barnes because it’s not always just the assists. It’s the playmaking in transition.”
Barnes’s playmaking was on full display this season
Scottie Barnes has always been a good playmaker for the Raptors. He finished each of his last three seasons with at least 363 total assists. That number shot up to 474 this season. He played more games than in previous seasons, hitting the 80-game mark for the first time, but was also asked to initiate a lot of the Raptors’ offense, especially when Immanuel Quickley was sidelined with foot and hamstring issues.
The Raptors would have been utterly lost without Barnes’s ability to step into the point guard spot. It was a lot to ask from the same player who already anchors the team’s defense and has to be an impactful scorer, but he rose to the challenge.
Barnes led the Raptors in total assists and finished eleventh across the league behind Nikola Jokić, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Johnson, James Harden, Jamal Murray, Luka Doncic, LaMelo Ball, Jalen Brunson, Stephon Castle, and Josh Giddey. Most players in that group have one thing in common: they are guards, point guards specifically. Only Nikola Jokić is a center, and Barnes and Johnson are classified as forwards. Six of the ten players who ranked ahead of Barnes in total assists were named to an All-NBA team.
Next season could finally be Scottie Barnes’s year
After two snubs, Scottie Barnes should enter the 2026-27 season motivated to prove everyone wrong. Ideally, he will also have a more cohesive roster around him with improved offensive potential.
If that’s the case and he stays healthy, Raptors fans should soon see their star on the All-Defensive First Team and an All-NBA team.
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