He may not be Magic, but Raptors' Barnes flashes potential as oversized guard

TORONTO — On his first possession as the Toronto Raptors' new point guard, Scottie Barnes took an outlet pass from Jakob Poeltl in stride on the right side of the fancy new floor at Scotiabank Arena and started directing traffic.

He slowed up just a little bit, made eye contact with Gradey Dick on the other side of the floor and gestured for the second-year wing to cut middle. Dick followed instructions, shifted gears and direction, and was rewarded with a wide-open lay-up that Barnes saw before it ever happened.

Is Barnes the Raptors point guard of the future? Is he the Raptors point guard for now? Will the Raptors even have a designated point guard in the future?

All to be determined.

But Barnes — as always — looked good with the ball in his hands, this time maybe especially so given he made just his fifth start of the season Thursday night after being out for three weeks with a fractured orbital bone.

And after he missed the last 22 games of last season too, there was definitely an absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder vibe around Scotiabank Arena, with the crowd excited for more than the new floor with the Vince Carter-inspired logo featuring The Raptor putting the ball between his legs for a dunk at centre court.

Barnes was excited too, even picking up a technical foul in the first quarter for pretending to shoot a gun after he made his first three-pointer in nearly a month early in the first quarter. Exuberance was running high.

“I felt great out there,” said Barnes. "I felt great tonight.”

Everyone had plenty to be excited about by game’s end, as the Raptors won their second-straight game and fourth this season, 110-106, over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. The win improved the Raptors' record to 4-12 before they head out on a four-game road trip starting against East-leading Cleveland on Sunday. The Timberwolves fell to 8-7.

How was it to have Barnes on the floor, bringing his brand of creative chaos?

“That was fun,” said RJ Barrett, who has shouldered a big chunking of the Raptors play-making and scoring responsibilities with Barnes out. “He’s a special player … he made it easier. I was just out there chilling, waiting around, trying to find where I could make a play. When you have a guy like that out there, it makes everybody’s job easier.”

The Raptors were at least arguably in control of the contest for most of the night, leading after the first quarter and at halftime. They trailed by two to start the fourth quarter, but never fell behind by more than five and took over with a 13-1 run that began when Barnes returned to the floor with 5:43 to play.

Barnes finished with 17 points, three rebounds and six assists while playing under a limit that held him to 27 minutes of floor time. Barrett led all scorers with 31 points while adding seven rebounds and three assists. Chris Boucher had 22 points off the bench for the Raptors, who shot 51.4 per cent from the floor but just 7-of-23 from deep.

Minnesota got 26 points from Anthony Edwards, 23 from Julius Randle and 22 from Jaden McDaniels. The Timberwolves shot 41.3 per cent from the floor and 12-of-35 from three. The teams combined to shoot 72 free throws (39 for Toronto, 33 for Minnesota) and evenly split 34 turnovers.

Before the game, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic stirred things up a little bit when — in response to a question about Edwards turning himself into a high-flying version of Steph Curry, based on the T-Wolves guard shooting 42.3 per cent from deep on 11.3 attempts a game to lead the league in made threes — he went all-in on the Minnesota star.

“I think Anthony Edwards did not turn into Steph Curry, but he’s slowly turning into Michael Jordan,” said Rajakovic. “To be honest with you, Michael Jordan was my idol and the best player that I ever watched, I always admired him. I think Anthony Edwards is the closest that I’ve ever seen to Michael Jordan, just the way he moves on the court, just how competitive he is. There are amazing competitors in this league but this kid has something special, I have a ton of respect for him.”

Edwards is bananas, no argument here. But I can’t help pointing out that when Jordan was 23 he averaged 37.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.5 blocked shots while averaging 40 minutes a game and playing all 82 games. It was a different era, to be sure. In his age-23 season, Edwards is averaging 28.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks. Even on a per-possession basis, it’s not close between the two, which doesn’t diminish Edwards in any way. It’s more that if he’s going to get on Jordan’s level, he’s got a ways to go. Everyone not named LeBron James does.

But Edwards was excellent against Toronto, if a little understated by his standards — he was only 5-of-9 from deep and didn’t unleash any of his highlight-reel dunks.

But while we’re in the generous comparison space, why not Barnes as a modern-day Magic Johnson?

It’s absurd, of course. The five-time MVP and five-time NBA champion is almost inarguably the best point guard who has ever played, using his six-foot-nine frame to see and make passes others couldn’t. While we’re on topic, by his fourth season Johnson already had two Finals MVP awards on his resume and had led the NBA in assists. Barnes isn’t that yet. 

But Rajakovic invited the blue skying not only because he chose to invoke our basketball lord and saviour Jordan, but because when it came time to decide who Barnes would replace in the starting lineup, he pulled Davion Mitchell — who has been the Raptors' starting point guard in the absence of Immanuel Quickley (elbow), who has only played parts of three games so far this season.

Barnes as the Raptors' oversized point guard is a tempting concept. His floor vision is impeccable and he’s as unselfish as they come. His size and athleticism mean when he gets up ahead of steam the defence has no choice but to retreat into the paint. It can’t help but open up opportunity for a shooter like Dick or even create opportunities for Barrett to attack against scrambled defences. It even works with Quickley on the floor, given that the fifth-year guard is an elite three-point shooter who could only benefit from sliding into spots on the perimeter left open when Barnes barrels into the paint or organizes his teammates in transition.

Rajakovic wasn’t dropping names when it came to Barnes, but his enthusiasm for his multi-skilled All-Star is clear.

“I'm probably the biggest believer in Scottie Barnes. I really love his game. I really love everything that he brings to the table,” said Rajakovic. “And all I want is Scottie Barnes to be Scottie Barnes. When Scottie Barnes is aggressive, when Scottie Barnes is competing, when he's rebounding the ball and he's pushing the ball in transition. The way he shares the ball, the way he's playing unselfishly — I don't want Scottie Barnes to be anything outside of Scottie Barnes. I just need him to be the best version of himself. And when he's that, he's really raising the people around him to another level. He's making everybody around him better.”

Which is a point guard’s job description in a nutshell.

Barnes showed his chops even as he was still getting up to full speed after his injury. He found Poeltl more than once on seeing-eye passes through traffic as Barnes used his big frame to bully his way into the paint. Even having played so little basketball since he missed the end of last season with a broken hand, Barnes' instincts in transition remain superb. He hit Ochai Agbaji with a pass so good the Raptors wing seemed surprised and ended up turning it over.

With the game hanging in the balance, Barnes checked in to use the last of his allotted minutes and immediately drove the lane and kicked out to find Boucher open in the corner for a three that tied the game with 5:20 to play. Barnes then drew a foul and made both free throws before proceeding to hit a tough turnaround jumper with 3:50 to play. The 7-0 run put Toronto up four.

Next, Barnes found himself on the other end of a sharp hit-ahead pass from Barrett for a dunk before Dick broke out in transition and lobbed an alley-oop for Barrett that he buried to cap off the 13-1 run that gave Toronto a nine-point lead with 2:33 to play.

The Raptors survived a couple of late turnovers and were lucky when Minnesota missed some wide-open looks from deep in the late going, but they got Barnes back and they got the win, and the two are likely very much related.