[The Athletic] On Scottie Barnes’ growth, coaching behaviour and more: Raptors mailbag, Part 2

source: https://theathletic.com/4465534/2023/05/01/raptors-scottie-barnes-mailbag/

some excerpts (there’s more in the article):

**Scottie Barnes views himself as a point guard, and brings much-needed athleticism to the position. Do you think he has the potential to become the Raptors starting PG? If yes, how soon? —Zac W.**

I’m not sure how much Barnes views himself as a point guard versus a basketball player whose top skill is making plays for others. But po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe, to an extent. Unless you have next-level burst — think prime Russell Westbrook, John Wall or De’Aaron Fox for a more modern example — you need a solid jumper to truly run the pick-and-roll efficiently. Barnes obviously has the size that those others don’t, but that doesn’t entirely make up for the other relative deficiencies he has.

TL;DR: He needs to improve as a handler and shooter to get there. Expecting him to be the guy, in that specific sense, before Year 5 seems unrealistic to me. That doesn’t mean he can’t be really productive before then, I’d just be surprised if it was in that particular role that quickly.

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**So what is Barnes’ best position? Do we keep moving him all over like a farmer spreading manure, on his field or do we find him a position from which to develop? —Geoff K.**

Crude analogy, Geoff. Any talk of manure just makes me think of driving by the Holland Marsh.

Anyway, getting contributions in multiple ways is the reason you draft versatile players. At some point earlier in the year, I called him a power guard, and you know what? I like that description. Good job, self.

There are ways in which to focus his development, but saying “you’re a point guard” or “you’re a scoring forward” fundamentally short-changes him, and accordingly short-changes the team as a whole.

There are three things you can do when you have the ball: shoot it, dribble it or pass it. Barnes is, by far, most advanced in the third category. Get better at the other two.

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**In a hypothetical draft night trade for O.G. Anunoby, what would you expect the return to be? —Pat C.**

There are two ways to interpret this question. The first: What would a realistic trade offer on draft night look like for Anunoby? I would say a mid- to late-lottery pick, maybe another lottery-protected first-rounder plus matching salary that is not particularly exciting.

Second: What would a trade offer that the Raptors might accept on draft night look like? A mid-to late-lottery pick, a lightly protected first-round pick in the future and matching salary that includes one or both of depth and a young, rotation-level player.

On a related note, I don’t think the Raptors are trading Anunoby this offseason.

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**Can an effective second unit be formed from the players currently on the roster? If yes, why did this not happen in the past season? If no, what is the most significant requirement and how will it be addressed? —James A.**

I can’t go over the saga of Nurse and the bench again. I’m not sure the talent was there to make it a great bench or anything, but giving a few guys longer leashes — Nurse deciding Malachi Flynn and Christian Koloko were playing 14 minutes per night, every night, let’s say — would have been for the best organizationally, and probably also for the 2022-23 Raptors. I totally understand why it was difficult for Nurse to trust those guys, among others, but role certainty is a thing, and only six guys on this team ever really had that for longer than a week or two at a time.

Saying that, as is the case with the starting lineup, quality guard play is the most obvious requirement to augment what they already have. Whether that comes through the draft, trade or free agency, I’m not sure, but the Raptors quite clearly need depth there. At some point, I will get to the options within all of those avenues.

by mMounirM