How will Scottie Barnes make the ALL NBA leap?

From my piece prior to the Kawhi Leonard trade:

“With Barnes on the floor and Barrett off? The Raptors got murdered. With Barrett on the floor and Barnes off? The Raptors got murdered. On a team that was starved for offensive creation and couldn’t look elsewhere, only through teaming up did Barnes & Barrett manage to find something productive. Barrett, a player who has been critiqued for no end for the things he doesn’t do, continues to provide impact through the things he does do.

Barnes is a maelstrom of impact and production, but he does need things to work with. Barrett has always been a player who will provide that. If Barnes is a basketball chemist, taking what’s available and concocting different outcomes, Barrett is a chunk of the periodic table. Categorize him as gas, metal, or otherwise, he’s something.

Evidenced by who has successfully played next to Barnes throughout his career, our conceptions of what works shouldn’t be so rigid. The Raptors and Bobby Webster need to pivot perfectly to maximize these next few years.

The Raptors have a few big salaries on their team. They’ve been searching on the scrap heap of past stars or the table of good-not-great-maybe-they’ll-make-the-leap-let’s-get-him-while-we-can. As of yet, nothing has panned out the way they’ve wanted. If they can manage it, the Raptors should stop trying to tease together two disparate things into tenability. They need to give Barnes a real deal co-star. A player who threatens for All-NBA selections. It’s a hard ask to nab somebody of that caliber, and even harder to make sure that you don’t end up walking out a Mikal Bridges type trade for a Bridges type player.

The heat is on for the Raptors front office. Stack those winning decisions.”

Now that they’ve brought in the big fish. Or, at least, planned on doing it, are waiting patiently to do it, hoping… something like that.

When Leonard lands on the team, Barnes’ role remains similar in a lot of ways, but does fundamentally change. It’s up to him to take this new opportunity as both platform and cocoon. A place to perform and nurture his game at the highest level.