The play looked about as uncomfortable as could be. A few days after returning from a three-plus-week absence because of a broken orbital bone, Scottie Barnes got hit across the face again.
Collecting his own rebound in a loss in Cleveland on Sunday night, Barnes was patient and powered up to take another attempt. He tried to lay the ball in, and Cavaliers centre Jarrett Allen got some ball but also hit Barnes in the face on the follow-through of his block attempt.
Barnes was on the ground, in obvious pain. It would have been more than understandable if he spooked in the moment. However, after a brief stoppage, Barnes was up. A few seconds later, he hit a 3, excitedly screaming as the Cavaliers called a timeout.
The Raptors lost in Cleveland. On Monday, they lost again in Detroit on a Jaden Ivey buzzer-beater. Forget about the results, and the injury: This has been a wonderful start to the year for Barnes as a leader. He has been criticized, often with good cause, for saying the wrong thing or acting the wrong way early in his career. The Raptors still gave him a maximum-value extension in the offseason, a bet on a pass-first forward with elite size and athleticism. He hasn’t played enough yet this year to be able to assess his growth on the court, but he has made steps with his demeanour.
He has channeled that best in his effort to push the pace with the ball. The intangibles, which can be overemphasized, feel better, too. Most importantly, he seems excited by the right things. Barnes yelped in glee after blocking Evan Mobley on Sunday, and was even louder after Jamal Shead hit a 3 going the other way. While he is still trying to shoot efficiently, he has dished out 20 assists in his first three games back. His 31-point, 14-rebound effort versus the Pistons was his best Alpha effort of the year, albeit not enough against the Pistons without Cade Cunningham.
Extra vision with the goggles 🥽 pic.twitter.com/lF1uhF8xSr
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) November 25, 2024
Mobley and Cunningham, two of the three players picked ahead of Barnes in 2021, are significant contributors in their respective’ teams season. Franz Wagner, the eighth pick that year, looks like he could be an All-Star in Orlando. There are many other excellent players who were picked elsewhere in the first and early second rounds.
It feels like we’ll be arguing about those players for a long time. The Raptors are about as together as any team with a 4-14 record can be, and Barnes deserves some credit for that.
You might have forgotten this, but Chris Boucher was great in the Tampa Tank season. He was eighth in Sixth Man of The Year voting, averaging 20.3 points, 10 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per 36 minutes. Most of the scoring was owing to a career-best 38.3-percent accuracy from 3.
He was below 17 points per 36 minutes in each of the three following seasons but entered the Pistons game at 21.7 points per 36 minutes, despite a 3-point percentage a few ticks below his career average. He is shooting 67.1 percent from inside the arc, numbers that imitate a rim-running centre. He is back in coach Darko Rajaković’s good graces.
He is also in the final year of his three-year contract, which will make him an interesting trade candidate. It is harder than ever to complete trades because of the stricter rules for teams paying into the luxury tax and above aprons. Also, Boucher is probably the fourth big on a good team.
While the third year on that contract seemed unnecessary at the time, at least the Raptors structured the deal so it descended as time progressed. He makes $10.8 million this year. A team looking for some depth and offensive rebounding could come calling. Boucher to Cleveland (25th in offensive rebound percentage) for Georges Niang and two second-rounders? Boucher to Sacramento (23rd) for Trey Lyles and a second? Boucher to Orlando (14th) for Gary Harris, Caleb Houstan and a pair of seconds?
BOUCHER 😤👏 pic.twitter.com/v7bDvGFPoe
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) November 26, 2024
He’s not going to be the star of a market. Competitive teams might be turned off by how shot-happy he can be. But if the Raptors can turn him into some picks, that will be a credit to both team and player.
Depth building
Davion Mitchell and Boucher are fourth and sixth in total minutes for the Raptors this year. They are also both free agents at the end of the year — Mitchell is restricted, Boucher is unrestricted. Perhaps coincidentally and perhaps not, the Raptors used two of their second-round picks in 2024 on Jamal Shead and Jonathan Mogbo. Shead has been struggling, although he had a wonderful early stretch in Detroit, while Mogbo is having another good stint, but both feel like they could slide into the veterans’ roles next year if necessary.
It’s the defence for me 🔒 https://t.co/SZh8mbVaW7 pic.twitter.com/UkqaGxCUWs
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) November 25, 2024
That is a good place to be when you are rebuilding. The Raptors are committed to paying Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett as well-compensated starters or more, giving them little room to add on the fringes in the short-term. The Raptors won’t want to pay into the luxury tax as they try to build toward another playoff appearance, which means getting choosy about your role players.
Mitchell and Boucher have been good this year. But, if by the end of the year, both Mogbo and Shead have proven they can hang in the rotation — the Raptors have been solid with Mogbo on the floor, less so with Shead — the Raptors can be comfortable in letting the free agents walk, Mogbo even took two 3s against the Cavaliers, and banked one in against the Pistons. Baby steps!
Not for nothing: Ja’Kobe Walter could also replace UFA Bruce Brown, although neither has been healthy enough for that to make sense in anything other than theory.
More 3s needed, even if they’re risky
The Raptors came into the Detroit game taking 30.5 3-pointers per 100 possessions. That is last in the NBA. It is more than six attempts below the league median, and 20 below the league-leading Celtics, an admitted outlier.
Meanwhile, Raptors opponents are averaging 36.7 attempts 100 possessions. The Raptors came into the Pistons game allowing the third-lowest 3-point accuracy, which means their opponents are due for some positive regression. Perhaps the Raptors have been a little unlucky shooting the ball, connecting on 33.6 percent of their 3s. We know there isn’t much shooting talent on this team, though, especially without Quickley.
On average, the Raptors are allowing 12.8 made 3s per game and making 10.4. It seems like those numbers will only grow further apart. The Raptors need Quickley back, and they need some other guys to start shooting more, even if they might occasionally scan as bad shots. This math cannot hold. (To be clear, it is not currently holding. They are 4-14!)
Against the Pistons, the Raptors were getting blown out until Barnes made three semi-contested looks that he easily could have turned down, especially with the Raptors struggling from deep. (He even took a heat check from extra deep). A tad more of that, please.
SCOTTIE B WITH BACK-TO-BACK 3s‼️ pic.twitter.com/VXlbidC5J5
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) November 26, 2024
Jakob Poeltl finished two points shy of his seventh double-double in eight games against Detroit. The Raptors centre was mentioned as an also-ran for Eastern Conference player of the week on Monday, won by Giannis Antetokounmp.
However, he didn’t look as spry in Cleveland or Detroit as he had previously. That could have just been a matter of comparison, as Cleveland’s Allen and Mobley and Detroit’s Jalen Duren are long and athletic. That is not Poeltl’s game.
However, Poeltl has played 35 or more minutes seven times in 15 games this year. He crossed that threshold just four times in 50 outings last year. It is worth monitoring.
(Top photo of Scottie Barnes: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
