Brandon Ingram has played as advertised, even though he didn’t suit up for a single game last season after the Raptors pulled the trigger on the deal with the New Orleans Pelicans.
RJ Barrett has been at his efficient best, even though there’s no assurance he’ll be with the Raptors beyond this season, or even sooner.
Immanuel Quickley provided the type of performance from the point position in Tuesday’s rout of the visiting Milwaukee Bucks that does bode well.
Rookie Collin Murray-Boyles has returned to a more comfortable reserve role with Jakob Poeltl back in the starting group, though the big man is not as his best following a bout with lower back stiffness.
At 4-4 and with the Raptors about to begin a five-game road trip, there have been good signs, bad stretches and the kind of uneven play associated with a team that remains a work in progress.
Eight games into the season, the one player who does inspire optimism is Scottie Barnes.
Barnes is in his fifth season and is showing the signs he displayed in his rookie campaign when he was surrounded by the likes of Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and Fred VanVleet.
Toronto would advance to the post-season that year, with Barnes earning NBA rookie honors.
Better version of himself
This year’s edition of the Raptors isn’t as good, at least not yet, but Barnes is evolving into a better version of himself.
Maybe the only area one can nitpick about Barnes’ game is his lack of trips to the charity stripe. In a lopsided home loss to the Houston Rockets last month, Barnes attempted six free throws. In the ensuing three games, he has been to the line a total of six times.
Part of it has to do with the flow of an offence that has seen the ball move quickly. The other part has to do with Barnes lacking an aggressive edge in attacking the rim.
One suspects that will improve because Barnes has shown a knack for self-improvement.
Toronto has won three games in a row. In the team’s past two, Barnes has recorded seven blocks, while dishing off 14 assists and has turned the ball over just three times.
It is a small sample size, but while watching Barnes, it’s not hard to notice how his game is improving and knowing more awaits.
In the Raptors’ 128-100 beatdown of the Bucks, Barnes needed 16 attempts from the field to score 23 points. He’s also Toronto’s best defender and, next to Ingram, the team’s best scorer.
Ingram is not known for his defence and will likely never turn into a stopper, but the Raptors can live it when schemes are designed to mask his deficiency. When he’s rolling on offence, not many defenders can guard him.
Career-best three-shooting percentage
Barnes can be equally unguardable when he’s operating from the mid-post.
If, and it’s a big if, he’s able to develop a consistent three-point shot, the sky’s the limit. So far, he has been making shots from the three-point arc, connecting at a career-best 48.6%. Last year, he shot 27.1%
“The league is in trouble then, I think,” said head coach Darko Rajakovic when asked about the consequences of the 24-year-old Barnes being able to sustain his perimeter prowess.
“He’s such a player that he plays with so much force on both ends of floor. He’s a good rim-finisher and he can handle the ball.
“He’s not even close to being where he’s going to be in four or five years from now. That kid is just improving so much and adding so much to his game … he’s going to be a big-time player.”
One can never project injuries, an area Barnes has dealt with in the past.
During the second quarter Tuesday, he left the game in obvious discomfort after his left hand got tangled under teammate Sandro Mamukelashvili’s arm as the two battled Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Fortunately for the Raptors, Barnes was back when the second half resumed.
Injury bug has paid too many visits
Lady Luck perhaps showed her kinder side on Tuesday, but she has not been kind to Barnes in the past.
A year ago, Barnes suffered an ankle sprain when he collided with New York Knicks’ big man Karl-Anthony Towns. And there was the orbital bone fracture suffered when Barnes was on the receiving end of an inadvertent elbow by Denver Nuggets’ big man Nikola Jokic.
Ingram’s presence might soften the blow of any potential injury loss by Barnes, offensively speaking that is.
However, it’s safe to say that Barnes needs to stay healthy for the Raptors to have any chance of securing one of the top six seeds in the Eastern Conference.