The Raptors have a franchise best offense

From Louis’ piece on Scottie:

“Of all the changes, perhaps the simplest and easiest to have predicted is that Barnes is best alongside floor spacing. That makes sense. Virtually every NBA player is. But Barnes especially. He is an outrageously brilliant passer yet a limited driver who has trouble getting his hips past his primary defender. So extra space, with digs having to travel a few extra feet in order to attack his dribble, allows him both to catalyze his passing and his driving, in different ways. 

Therefore, Barnes has been unlocked by playing alongside the unbelievably talented offensive big, Sandro Mamukelashvili. That has shown up in the numbers He has been scoring 45.9 points per 100 possessions with Mamukelashvili on the floor (net rating of plus-23.2) and 23.1 points per 100 possessions without him (net rating of negative-11.4). As a point of comparison, that scoring rate with Mamukelashvili is equivalent to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s overall rate so far this season, fourth in the league, while the rate without him is equivalent to Vince William jr.’s overall rate on the year, below the 100th ranked on the year. 

So Barnes has been best with a floor spacer. Part of that is the limitations of Jakob Poeltl on the year, due to injury, but Barnes’ net rating with Poeltl on the floor over his entire career is plus-1.7. Space has been kind to Barnes. 

That has only been a small component of the changes in Barnes’ game.

The sets in which Barnes is seeing touches have changed dramatically. He’s seeing far fewer static isolations and post-ups. He’s finishing about half as many possessions as the pick-and-roll ballhandler. Meanwhile, he’s finishing more than twice as many possessions as the pick-and-roll screener. (And, yes, he generally slips out of on-ball screens, which services himself as a scorer far more than it services his guards. That’s fine because he has been such a brilliant scorer on the catch in those scenarios. I discussed this at great length with Samson here.) He’s cutting more. He’s using more possessions in transition while also finishing much more efficiently in the open court.”

Enjoy the episode!