What Went Right: Scottie Barnes

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  • By Mike Passador

    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:

    Scottie Barnes
    SF, Toronto Raptors
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    24-25 TOR 29 29 34.8 7.7 16.7 46.3 3.1 4.2 73.0 1.4 5.2 27.2 19.9 8.0 6.6 1.5 0.9 3.4
    23-24 TOR 60 60 34.9 7.5 15.7 47.5 3.3 4.2 78.1 1.7 4.9 34.1 19.9 8.2 6.1 1.3 1.5 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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    August 27, 2024, 12:34 pm