Raptors' Scottie Barnes left off of first round of All-Star voting returns
Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes might be having a career season, but he’s still got a ways to go to earn true league-wide recognition.
Barnes (and the rest of his teammates) was left off of the first round of All-Star voting returns that came through today.
With 10 players revealed in both the frontcourt and backcourt for each conference, Barnes is on the outside looking in for the first round of fan voting.
This round of voting helps determine the five All-Star starters selected from each conference, with fan voting accounting for 50% of the vote, with NBA players and a media panel counting for 25% each.
Barnes has averaged 21.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 34 games for the Raptors this season, his third year in the league. Barnes’ usage rate of 24.5 is currently the highest of his career, as he’s been entrusted with more possessions following the departure of Fred VanVleet in the offseason. But despite his strong year, he’d have quite the rise to make it into the All-Star Game as a starter based on the first round of returns.
However, it doesn’t mean all hope is lost for Raptors fans, with voting still open on NBA.com and the NBA App for more than a month. Should Barnes not make it through as one of the five starters selected, he’d still have a chance to be named as one of seven Eastern Conference reserves picked by the coaches league-wide.
The All-Star Game is set for February 18 in Indiana. All-Star starters will be named on January 25, with full rosters announced on February 1.
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