Over the last five years, Scottie Barnes has grown from a promising lottery pick into one of the best defenders in the NBA, a strong scorer, and a great passer. Over those five years, one of his more underrated assets has been his durability.
Barnes played fewer than 65 games only once and logged more than 70 games three times, including an 80-game season in 2025-26. Not many players reached that mark last season. 18 players in the NBA played all 82 games, including Raptors guard Jamal Shead. Two players played 81 games, and just four played 80 games. Out of those 24 players who played at least 80 games, only one, Desmond Bane, averaged more minutes per game than Barnes—barely. Barnes logged 33.5 minutes per game, and Bane 33.6.
Hopefully, Barnes can be just as durable next season. Even though the trade is on hold at the moment, most reports agree that the deal for Kawhi Leonard is still expected to go through eventually. If it does, the Raptors are bringing in a superstar to raise their ceiling.
But Leonard is also a walking injury risk, and the Raptors will have to load manage him and survive games without him. They should be able to do that with Collin Murray-Boyles and Ja’Kobe Walter able to step into bigger roles and Barnes and RJ Barrett able to up their production when needed. However, surviving stretches without Barnes and Leonard would be difficult. If Barnes can play anywhere from 65 to 82 games again, the Raptors shouldn’t encounter that problem often.
Leonard isn’t the only player with a concerning injury history either
Scottie Barnes should slot in as the Raptors’ starting power forward, but he can also play point guard or spend minutes at the center position. The latter will be crucial, given that the Raptors have no true center behind Jakob Poeltl outside of Trayce Jackson-Davis and some Summer League hopefuls. Jackson-Davis joined the Raptors ahead of the trade deadline this year, but barely played.
Poeltl hasn’t played more than 57 games in a season since the 2022-23 campaign, when he returned to Toronto after some time in San Antonio. Even after a full offseason to recover, his back issues may still cause him to miss several games next season. That will push Murray-Boyles into a bigger role, but it will also force the Raptors to ask more from Barnes unless the matchup allows them to give an end-of-the-bench player some run.
Either way, Barnes’s ability to stay healthy and consistently play heavy minutes could be a deciding factor for the Raptors next season.
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