Raptors officially pick Scottie Barnes at fourth overall in NBA Draft
Scottie Barnes is officially a member of the Toronto Raptors.
With the fourth overall selection in Thursday’s NBA Draft taking place in Brooklyn’s Barclays’ Center, Toronto opted for the Florida State forward.
The first three picks in the draft were leaked earlier in the day by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham went first overall to the Detroit Pistons, NBA G League Ignite Guard Jalen Green went second overall to the Houston Rockets, and USC centre Evan Mobley was picked third by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The move to take Barnes came as a shock to many Raptors fans, who were expecting the team to take Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs, who was taken with the fifth pick by Orlando.
After various reports that they’d be moving the pick, Toronto ultimately opted to keep their selection and take Barnes.
As a freshman at Florida State, Barnes averaged 10.3 points, 4.1 assists, four rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
Barnes’ selection led to some speculation that Raptors forward Pascal Siakam could be hitting the trade block, though no concrete rumours of any possible transactions have emerged.
In the second round, the Raptors added Canadian Dalano Banton out of Nebraska with the 46th pick, and took David Johnson out of Louisville with pick #47.