Scottie Barnes rose to the occasion

He also won Eastern Conference Defensive Player of the Month for October/November, becoming the first Raptor ever to win the award, which was introduced before the 2024/25 season. He also came away with Eastern Conference Player of the Week for Week 12 of the regular season, another feat that Brandon Ingram also achieved this season.

Some fans are probably expecting him to be named to an All-NBA team after the success he achieved this season, with awards starting to be handed out in the coming weeks. Barnes just got named to the All-Defensive second team, and many were expecting a first-team appearance after the year and success that he had. He led the league for most of the season for total stocks (steals and blocks), but ultimately lost out on that record to the 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama.

For the season, Barnes averaged 18.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game. His points average is the third highest output of his 5-year career, while the rebounds are also tied for the third highest, and his assists average is his second best so far. He shot above 30 percent from beyond the three-point line for the third time in his career, while shooting above 80 percent from the free throw line for just the first time in his career, and also shooting above 50 percent from the field for the first time. He tied career highs of 1.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, and also had his healthiest season so far, playing 80 games and averaging 33.5 minutes per game.

Some of his memorable moments in the regular season were the game-saving block against the Charlotte Hornets during the nine-game win streak at the start of the season, along with a massive triple-double performance against the Golden State Warriors to cap off a huge comeback win in overtime.

In this Warriors game, he had an insane stat line of 23 points, a career high of 25 rebounds and 10 assists, good enough for one of his three triple-double performances in the season.

And who can forget yet another defensive play on the road against the defending champs, who are still in the playoffs and are now just two games away from making it back-to-back finals. This was also a huge win in terms of giving the fan base hope due to how bad their record was against winning teams across the league.

Now for the most important and impressive part, the playoffs. Scottie was hands down Toronto’s most impressive and consistent player in the postseason, just inching out Collin Murray-Boyles and RJ Barrett in my opinion. He shot over 50 percent from the field, 38.1 percent from beyond the arc, 24.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 8.6 assists, while adding 1.7 blocks and 1.1 steals per game on the defensive side. A massive leap in more than a few categories from the regular season, most notably the points, assists and three-point percentage and even marginal improvements in field goal percentage, blocks.

He didn’t have a crazy highlight like RJ Barrett’s game six winner or Jamal Shead’s heroic stop in game 4 to win an eight-second count; however, he was the one who picked up Donovan Mitchell full court in the same Jamal Shead play.

That, along with this massive dunk on Jarrett Allen plus the back-to-back blocks in game five, are probably three of his most memorable plays from the playoffs.

The fact that most of his memorable plays are on defence says a lot about Scottie Barnes as a player. Sure, many fans today love a player who can create their own shot and dunk on opponents to create highlight plays, but having a player capable of doing it on both ends is crucial in today’s NBA, given how good players are offensively.

In the end, with a new top-scoring option arriving at the team, Scottie had to take a back seat after being the focal point of Toronto’s offence just a season prior. He even averaged fewer shot attempts than Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett, but I’m sure Barnes doesn’t care too much about that, as he is a great teammate and a selfless player, with how much he likes to pass and get his teammates involved in the offence. Another All-Star appearance, a first appearance for an All-Defensive team and falling just one game short of advancing in the playoffs against a team that is now playing in the Eastern Conference finals, I think it’s safe to say Scottie Barnes had a successful year and maybe even his most successful year up to this point with how much awareness he has brought to his game from outside fanbases and media members.