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Bruski 150SportsEthos 2026 Fantasy Basketball Draft Guide
What Went Right: Scottie Barnes
Last Updated on August 19, 2025 6:54 pm by André Lemos | Published: August 27, 2024
As the summer rolls on, the SportsEthos team is working away at the Draft Guide for the 2024-25 season. In the meantime, we still have a few moments to look back at the season that was. We’re reviving an old series here to take a deep dive into a few players who hit and missed in an effort to figure out why they disappointed or excelled, and most importantly, if it was a blip on the radar or a sign of things to come.
After winning Rookie of the Year, Scottie Barnes’ follow-up effort left plenty to be desired. He didn’t take The Leap, ending up with a relatively similar stat line on worse shooting numbers, and at times local media put Barnes under the microscope for fleeting effort on the defensive end. The team consistently added up to less than the sum of its parts, and Barnes’ stagnant sophomore effort might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back heading into last year.
The Raptors hired a new coach with a completely different offensive philosophy and ended up tearing the roster down over the course of the season, restructuring the personnel to get the most out of Barnes’ game. Of course, Barnes made all of that possible by taking a major star turn in his third campaign. Before we get into why Barnes was so much better, let’s check out the numbers:
| Season | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FGM | FGA | FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | 3PTM | 3PTA | 3PT% | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25-26 | TOR | 80 | 80 | 33.5 | 7.1 | 14.0 | 50.7 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 81.5 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 30.4 | 18.1 | 7.5 | 5.9 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 2.6 |
| 24-25 | TOR | 65 | 65 | 32.8 | 7.3 | 16.4 | 44.6 | 3.5 | 4.6 | 75.5 | 1.2 | 4.3 | 27.1 | 19.3 | 7.7 | 5.8 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 2.8 |
Pretty good stuff, to say the least. The points, rebounds, assists and steals all improved, as did the field goal percentage, and Barnes made big gains in 3-pointers and steals. It all culminated in a top-20 fantasy season, and not even a hand fracture to cut the year short could dampen the vibes. So, what exactly happened to make Barnes so much more prolific in the box score? Glad you asked!
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Mike graduated from Boston University’s Dual Degree Program with a BA in Economics and a BS in Business with Concentrations in Marketing and Operations Management. He is a faithful supporter of Toronto sports and the Detroit Lions and is always ready to be let down. Tweet to him @Mike_Pandador, but if you badmouth Jose Calderon you might get blocked.
