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Barnes has already tied career-high in three-pointers for Raptors

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
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Dec 28 2023, 5:46 pm
Barnes has already tied career-high in three-pointers for Raptors
Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports

There haven’t been a ton of bright spots for the Toronto Raptors this season, as they find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.

Sitting at 12-18 and 12th in the Eastern Conference, they’ve been mostly a challenge to watch most nights and seem light-years away from returning to the inner circle of NBA contenders.

But just about anyone who’s tuned in this season to any amount of conversations involving the Raptors has been able to see the biggest positive for the team this season: the emergence of Scottie Barnes taking the next step towards NBA stardom.

Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic unveiled a new-look starting lineup prior to last night’s win over the Washington Wizards that swapped out Dennis Schroder in favour of Gary Trent Jr., giving Barnes the opportunity to have a bigger ball-handler role on the offensive end.

And midway through the contest, Barnes hit his fourth three-point shot of the night, his 63rd made bucket from long range this season. Though it’s just 30 games into the season, that actually ties a career-high for him, set last year across 77 games.

Here’s a quick look at the development of his three-point shooting over his three years with the Raptors.

3PM 3PA 3P% 3PM (Avg) 3PA (Avg) 
2021-22 58 193 30.1 0.8 2.6
2022-23 63 224 28.1 0.8 2.9
2023-24 63 162 38.9 2.1 5.4

Clearly, whatever offseason work Barnes did this summer has been working out for him, as he’s shooting from a distance both more accurately and more frequently.

While the team themselves may have some big-picture questions to answer about the direction of their franchise, very few of those centre around Barnes, who has emerged as the team’s primary threat on the offensive end of the floor this season more often than not.

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