Scottie

Barnes

Barnes has a chance to return from a two-game hiatus on Thursday despite suffering what was initially considered to be a significant ankle injury against the Knicks. He’s progressing faster than expected and could be back in the lineup sooner rather than later.

Having injured his ankle during a December 9 loss to the Knicks, Barnes was initially expected to miss “several weeks.” While he still has not been cleared for contact, the work done recently suggests that Barnes may not be on the sideline for too long. While Jonathan Mogbo replaced the Raptors star in the lineup for their first game post-injury, Davion Mitchell and Ja’Kobe Walter also have increased opportunities to contribute.

Barnes’ loss is a massive blow, as he leads the team in assists and is second in scoring and rebounding. Toronto will likely use a committee approach to fill in for Barnes, with Jonathan Mogbo and Davion Mitchell as the primary beneficiaries. RJ Barrett should also see an uptick in playmaking responsibilities for as long as Barnes is sidelined.

Barnes came down on Karl-Anthony Towns’ foot in the third quarter and was reportedly seen repeating “I can’t feel my foot”. The team is calling it an ankle sprain, but that reaction isn’t promising. Barnes already missed an extended period of time earlier this season with an eye injury, and now there is a chance that he is sidelined for a bit with this ankle issue. Rookie Jonathan Mogbo entered the game in his place, though they’ll also need to rely on Davion Mitchell for playmaking, since Barnes had been playing the point guard role with Immanuel Quickley still sidelined with an elbow injury. Barnes will be re-evaluated on Tuesday, which will provide a better timeline for his return.

Quickley has been out for about a month, and he is still without a timeline for return. The imaging should give a better indication of when he’ll be back, but until that happens, Scottie Barnes will continue to be the primary playmaker, with Davion Mitchell playing a role off the bench.

Barnes was elite as a distributor on Saturday, establishing a new career-high with 14 assists. The Raptors star only committed three turnovers, and despite the outcome, this is the kind of performance the franchise wants to see from its cornerstone. Barnes is closing in on top-25 value in 8-cat formats, with turnovers (3.7 per game) being why he’s ranked just outside the top 50 in 9-cat.

After scoring a season-high 35 points in their last game, Barnes didn’t have the same success as a scorer in this game. He was still able to provide well-rounded value and almost record a triple-double, but he didn’t have an efficient shooting night. Barnes has been on a tear, but they simply ran into one of the best defensive teams in the league in this game. Point Scottie was able to extend his streak of games with at least six assists to eight, and he has at least eight assists in four straight.

Barnes has been cooking as of late, and he has thrived as the team’s lead playmaker. Over his last three games, he has averaged 27.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 2.7 triples while shooting 57.7% from the floor. The defensive numbers haven’t been there, but we know he is more than capable of providing those. The turnovers have been inflated, which isn’t surprising since he is the primary ball handler. Immanuel Quickley still doesn’t have a clear timeline for his return, which means that Point Scottie will continue to be a thing for the foreseeable future.

Point Scottie continues to be a successful experiment for Toronto. Since returning from an extended absence due to an eye injury, Barnes has been the team’s primary playmaker. He had six assists in 27 minutes in his first game back and has had at least seven assists in the five games since then. He fell one assist short of recording a second straight triple-double, both of which came in games against Miami. They got the win in this one, and he’ll look to keep posting well-rounded stat lines with Indiana coming to town on Tuesday.

After recording back-to-back double-doubles to begin Week 6, Barnes notched his first triple-double on Friday. However, turnovers have been problematic in Toronto’s last two games. Barnes has been responsible for five in matchups with the Pelicans (Wednesday) and Heat and is averaging 3.3 turnovers per game. That category is the difference between top-50 and top-75 value for the Raptors’ cornerstone.