Scottie Barnes must embrace his spot at the centre of Toronto Raptors’ rebuild
New York TimesScottie Barnes was so impactful so quickly in the NBA that he had to endure the public dissecting his mannerisms and facial expressions in his early 20s. His megawatt smile defined the Toronto Raptors’ surprising 2021-22 season, which ended with a playoff berth and Barnes winning a close race with Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley for Rookie of the Year. Finally, Barnes’ visible sadness when OG Anunoby was traded, leaving the bench a few seconds early at the end of an embarrassing home loss against the San Antonio Spurs, and confusion when he was questioned about that marked an awkward transition year for the Raptors in 2023-24. If you throw out the Raptors’ 8-8 start, a period when they still had Pascal Siakam and Anunoby, and also scrap the entire month of March, when the team often played without much of its starting lineup and went 1-14, the Raptors were the equivalent of a 26-win team last year. In moving from Nick Nurse to Darko Rajaković, the Raptors are making an offensive shift that should benefit Barnes’ greatest offensive skill, his playmaking.
History of this topic
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