TORONTO — On July 29, the Toronto Raptors took Florida State forward Scottie Barnes with the fourth overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft.
And they were promptly criticized for the decision — including from this very writer here.
The reason for the trepidation about the pick was simple: Gonzaga stud Jalen Suggs was still available on the board and the Raptors, instead, opted to go with the rawer-looking prospect whom, let’s be honest, unless you specifically went out of your way to watch Florida State basketball, not a whole lot of people knew much about.
Instead, at No. 5, Suggs went to the Orlando Magic and a great Toronto sports “what if” scenario was born.
So far, just five games into their respective NBA careers, it’s looking like the Raptors made the right choice going with Barnes over Suggs. Barnes is outperforming Suggs in just about every aspect of the game right now.
On Friday, Barnes will get an opportunity to go head-to-head with Suggs for the first time in the NBA when the Magic come to pay the Raptors a visit.
“I think it makes sense that it is a thing,” Raptors head coach Nick Nurse said about the Barnes-Suggs matchup after the team practised Thursday. “It was probably the one spot in the draft that people really focused in on. For a long time, everybody thought it would go the opposite way, probably, and it went the way it went.”
The Raptors must be happy things ended up that way as well.
While fans and the media are likely walking into Friday’s proceedings like the game has an air of extra importance because of the matchup between the two rookies, for the two 20-year-olds involved it’ll likely just be another game in their young professional careers.
“I guess people would (talk about it,)” Barnes said. “Me and Suggs are great friends. He’s like a brother to me. I know his whole family, he knows mine. Of course, we’re going to be competing at the highest level, trying to get the best of each other.”
He added: “Social media’s gonna do its thing regardless of what happens. They’re gonna do their thing. I don’t think it matters to either of us. We’re both happy for each other. We wish each other the best of luck.”
Barnes and Suggs have known each other since they were around 14 and 15 years old, Barnes said. They’ve, essentially, grown up as young basketball players linked to each other both as opponents and teammates — most notably when they won a gold medal together with Team USA at the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup — and on Friday this connection they have will now transition to the game’s highest level.
Not that it’ll figure to impact Barnes much as he already appears to have a lot on his plate to focus on already.
“I think for him, his personal thing should be going out there as a player,” Nurse said. “I would say every night you go out there, you're there to put out your best performance.
"Is there external motivating factors sometimes? Of course, there is. But I just want him, first and foremost, to execute the schemes, execute with what we're doing and continue to be aggressive and when he sees lanes to the basket think score. Keep taking it in there more and keep getting more ready on defence.”
As much as Nurse and Barnes may want to try to couch it, Barnes vs. Suggs certainly looks like it’s a reasonably big deal.
While passing judgment on players whose NBA careers aren’t even 10 games old is a fallacy, seeing how these two highly touted rooks who have seemingly been linked together for as long as they’ve played basketball perform against each other Friday will at least make some progress determining whether or not the Raptors made the right choice drafting Barnes over Suggs.
Quick dribbles
• Nurse didn’t have any definitive updates on the respective statuses of Pascal Siakam (left shoulder injury rehabilitation) and Yuta Watanabe (left calf strain) but did confirm they practised with Raptors 905 Wednesday, participated in practice with the big club Thursday and will return to get more work in with the 905 Friday.
• Goran Dragic was a DNP-CP in Toronto’s Wednesday evening victory over the Indiana Pacers, something Nurse said he chatted with the veteran Dragic before the game about.
In regards to if Dragic understood Nurse’s decision to sit him for that game?
“Yep,” Nurse said. “Yeah, sure.”
• Despite not featuring a single seven-footer on the roster, the Raptors have been a strong rebounding team to start the season, ranking third in both rebounds per game and rebound percentage, and second in offensive rebounds per game and offensive rebound percentage.
It’s obviously a small sample size, but Nurse has liked what he’s seen on that front so far.
“Am I pleasantly surprised? Yeah, I am. I’m pleasantly surprised,” Nurse said. “‘Surprised’ is strong enough. I’m not shocked or anything, but I’m surprised — pleasantly so — that I think it’s just our overall hard play in those areas that we know we need to do.
"We know we need to guard hard, rebound hard, play with some pace and we just know that’s what’s going to suit with what the team is.”
