Scottie Barnes is giving the Raptors something they’ve needed early this season: a new way to score when the jumper isn’t there.
Toronto’s start has been shaky in the win column, but Barnes has kept moving forward offensively. Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes recently pointed to him as a possible first-time All-NBA pick, and the case starts with how much more dangerous he’s become attacking the basket and getting to the foul line.
That matters because Barnes still hasn’t found steady rhythm from deep. But now he has another lane to production, and it makes his scoring package tougher to game plan against. With Kawhi Leonard sidelined by a knee injury, Barnes has taken on a much bigger scoring load for Toronto this season than he has in the past, and the numbers show it.
In the eight games before he went down with a groin injury, Barnes was averaging a career-best 23.5 points per game. That’s a clear rise from last season’s 18.1, even though he has been on the floor for almost the same amount of time, at 33.3 minutes per game.
The shot volume has climbed with the responsibility. Barnes has gone from 14.0 field-goal attempts per game to 19.8, a sign that Toronto is leaning on him heavily on offense. But the biggest jump has come at the stripe.
Barnes has nearly doubled his free-throw attempts, moving from 3.7 per game last season to 6.3 this year. His scoring rate has also risen from 4.0 to 6.8 per 36, which points to more than just extra touches. He’s making better use of those touches, and the driving game is driving the surge.
NBA.com says Barnes is averaging 14.8 drives per game this season, up a bit from 12 a year ago. That increase likely ties back to his struggles from three, where he’s shooting just 15.4 per cent. Since the outside shot hasn’t been falling, Barnes has leaned harder into getting downhill, finishing at the rim and earning points at the line to make up for the ones left behind on threes.
The foul-drawing numbers start to look even stronger when stacked against some of the forwards who usually live in All-NBA discussions.
Barnes’ 6.3 free-throw attempts per game rank ninth among forwards who have played at least eight games this season. That puts him just behind Kevin Durant at 8.0 and Julius Randle at 7.2, while also sitting ahead of Anthony Davis at 5.8, Bam Adebayo at 5.2 and former Raptor Pascal Siakam at 5.2. It’s the kind of company that suggests Barnes may be starting to earn the kind of whistle that separates stars from everyone else.
That edge matters in a league where drawing contact with craft and timing can be just as valuable as overpowering defenders. The superstar whistle can level the playing field, which is why a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo, at 9.0 free-throw attempts per game, remains among the leaders.
There’s still a piece of the puzzle Barnes can sharpen. He’s hitting 68 per cent from the free-throw line this season after connecting on 81.5 per cent last year.
If he keeps getting to the stripe at this rate and gets back to that kind of efficiency, the scoring ceiling gets even higher. Barnes has long looked like a star-level two-way player, but this added layer to his offense could be what pushes him into the All-NBA conversation Toronto has envisioned.
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