Fuzzy Raptors future will get clearer after Scottie Barnes returns

TORONTO — What do the Toronto Raptors actually look like?

Great question. The Raptors, as envisioned, have barely ever been on the floor together, mainly due to injury.

That should change Thursday night, when Toronto hosts the Minnesota Timberwolves.

That should begin to change Thursday night when Toronto hosts the Minnesota Timberwolves, likely with Scottie Barnes back in the lineup.

The All-Star forward missed has been out since Oct. 30 after breaking his right orbital bone when the Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic hit him in the face, inadvertently, in a scramble for a loose ball.

That will be just the second time this season Barnes will play with RJ Barrett, who was out for the first three games of the year and all of the Raptors pre-season schedule with a sprained shoulder. Barnes has played only 14 minutes with point guard Immanuel Quickley, who was injured in a fall during the Raptors season opener. Quickley and Barrett got two games together in Los Angeles on the Raptors' recent road trip, but now Quickley is out after spraining his left elbow late in the Raptors loss to the Lakers on Nov. 10. There has been no time set for the point guard’s return. Quickley missed all but one game of the Raptors pre-season schedule, also due to a thumb sprain.

As a group, the Raptors starters — Barnes, Barrett, Quickley, Jakob Poeltl and Gradey Dick — haven’t played a minute together this season and didn’t see a minute of floor-time together last season, either.

Presumably, the Raptors will look better than the group that has looked about as good as 3-12 team can conceivably look when they get Barnes back and some other reinforcements. Rookie Ja’Kobe Walter is expected to play Thursday after missing all but four games with a shoulder injury. Veteran Bruce Brown (knee) is beginning his conditioning process and is expected to make his season debut in the coming days. Kelly Olynyk (back) is further away but participated in the Raptors practice Wednesday for the first time this season.

But getting Barnes back is Step 1. The multifaceted wing — he was leading the Raptors in points, assists, rebounds, blocked shots and steals when he broke his hand on March 1 and missed the final 22 games of last season — should make Toronto at least a little better in a lot of ways.

The injury wasn’t as bad as it could have been — surgery to repair the fracture was ruled out early on — and Barnes has been able to work on his conditioning while taking care to not get hit in the face and makes things worse.

“It actually hurt like crazy for, like, the first three or four days,” he said. “So, after that, I was being able to just do more and more each and every single day. My hand (which he broke last season) was more scary. I got the surgery. It was actually hurting super bad. So, I'm not really worried about this one. I feel great. I'm able to see great. It's not something that I'm really worried about that much.”

The Raptors can’t wait to have him back. He instantly provides help in a wide range of areas any team could need.

“It’s hard to limit (Barnes’ impact) to one thing,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “I think Scottie’s defensive intensity, protecting the rim, I think Scottie’s rebounding ability, the way he’s pushing the ball in transition, all of those things are things our team needs at this point. Obviously, we’re going to be conscientious of his minutes, and when he starts playing, how much he’s going to contribute at the beginning, all of those things are things we are missing from Scottie.”

Barnes has missed the opportunity to provide it. He’ll be wearing goggles to protect his eye area and will have his minutes built up slowly, but he’s eager to get started.

“We all know how to play with each other,” said Barnes. “We had some reps at it, but we couldn't get that many due to some injuries. But now we all know how to fit in with each other, play with each other, get each other going, and we know what we all like. We've been at it for a little while. We'll get things going with time.”

There may be some adjustments. Dick, Barrett and Poeltl are all sitting on career-high averages for field-goal attempts while picking up the slack left by the absences of Barnes and Quickley. Those should adjust downward with Barnes returning and the again when Quickley joins the lineup.

But Rajakovic is confident the Raptors' style of play should make the redistribution of shots and opportunities relatively seamless.

“To be honest with you, it should be pretty easy for us, because that's our style of play,” said Rajakovic. “We moved the ball quite a bit. We are playing off of each other. If one team decides on a certain night to put more emphasis on Scottie, that should open up more room for RJ, and vice versa, and that should help Gradey with his spacing. But always when you're incorporating players back in a starting role that always affects some chemistry and things that guys developed in last period. The best thing there that you can have is to maintain the good things and to enhance it with the (returning) players (and) the good things that they can bring.”

The Raptors aren’t at full strength yet, but they take a significant step forward with the return of Barnes. It’s not the full picture of what they can be, but the outline should begin to take shape.

He’s eager to get back to work.

“We're some fighters. We've got some dogs on our team,” Barnes said of his teammates’ effort to compete while dealing with so many injuries. “We want to win, and we'll just keep, every day, striving to get better. These guys, they're working their ass off every single day. I'm just ready to get back in there whenever that time is and just work my ass off with 'em, try to get wins.”