Age

21

Height

6'9''

Weight

225

Workload

MIN%

74

USG%

19

TS%

55

Per 70 Possession Stats

PTS

15.2

REB

7.4

AST

3.4

STL

1.1

BLK

0.8

TOV

1.8

Efficiency

RIM FG%

71

MID FG%

43

3PT FG%

30

FT%

74

Jump to full report

Report by: Matt

Scottie Barnes

Forward Toronto Raptors

High-energy, physical, athletic wing who can create offense for self and others

Age

21

Height

6'9''

Weight

225

Per 70 Possession Stats

PTS

15.2

REB

7.4

AST

3.4

STL

1.1

BLK

0.8

Positions Defended

Offensive Role

 

Defensive Role

   

Meet Scottie Barnes

Scottie Barnes is a powerhouse unto himself. The nicest thing I can say about Scottie is, despite all the makings of a connector with his skill set, is he is a pure hooper. Barnes has an improvisational flexibility that few have access to, a “hey, what if I?” when the opponent least expects it.

It’s not exclusively sunshine and rainbows (despite Scottie’s effusive personality), but Barnes’ ability to show new facets of his game the second he stepped on the court for the Toronto Raptors also displays his flexibility as a player to build around. After shooting a mere 5-21 on pull-up jumpers as a freshman at Florida State, Barnes shot consistently around 40% on copious pull-ups with the Raptors. What seems like too slow-loading of a shot to work off the dribble, Barnes is able to re-set his body quickly enough out of drives and long enough to shoot over defenders.

If you defend him tight, his handle, speed and deliberate strides can get him to the rim. Which gets us to our second point: Barnes is also incredibly strong, but more importantly loves to use it. Just look at him forcing the issue against Dean Wade in Toronto’s opener:

Barnes muscles Wade to the cup

The Raptors love allowing their players, especially 6’7’’-6’9’’ ones with ballhandling chops, to fully explore their creation space. Barnes having the freedom to just try things works perfectly with his natural creativity. I love the below pass as clearly outside of a set design. But Barnes holds to find the advantage point, and has the flexibility of mind to capitalize on it:

Barnes finds Siakam

It’s not the prettiest method of creating offense as a team, but allowing Barnes to roam with the ball to pick his delivery method generally gives his team an advantage. Perhaps his most unique ability is to make zip-line passes from 20+ feet away and nail his target in the hands, often slinging with one arm at unexpected moments. Again these are essential tools to create openings for an often-stagnant offense. Few can imitate both the speed and accuracy on skip pass reads like this, with innumerable examples:

Barnes skip pass with velocity

Barnes is often referred to as a defense-first player, but I think it’s quite the opposite. Barnes’ best asset on defense is how he loves to be in the muck and physical, as well as always happy to take on a challenging assignment. But he has major issues with positioning, and despite the “can guard 1-5” label doesn’t have the footspeed to hang with real guards. It’s common for a rookie to feel lost on defense, but the technique lacks in spots as well, as he can chase after non-threatening offensive players or take poor angles when defending the pick and roll handler. Some additional attention to detail will be needed for Barnes to live up to his billing as a true wing stopper, and as we’ve established, he seems to be cut out for the challenge.

Most importantly, however, Scottie wants to be that guy. His playful intensity on the court means challenging himself throughout a game, as this breaking through consecutive off-ball screens without being slowed for a single frame was staggering to witness. Very few players his size are willing to throw themselves through a screen like that, and Scottie did it in game one of the regular season while chasing after the not-so-threatening Cedi Osman.

Barnes untouched by consecutive screens

Not even within sets, Scottie loves setting an off-ball screen at any random moment if he thinks it will give his team an opening. He loves the game and has all kinds of tools to figure out how to cover up his weaknesses.

Tags:

,

Related Players

No items found

Related Articles

finding-a-role-lucas-kaplan
Finding a Role: 2024-25 Introduction
November 25, 2024
NBA Articles
Our own Charlie Cummings started Swish Theory’s Finding a Role series at the start of last season, the title being self-explanatory: While much of our collective player-analysis brainpower goes into…

Read more

Outlier Development Series: What Pascal Siakam Can Teach Arthur Kaluma
December 31, 2022
Analysis
Why This Series? When a great player becomes great, there is often the narrative of inevitability tied into the fabric. While there may be some truth to that – no…

Read more