RAPTOR BLOG: Barnes hits fastest rookie impact since Vince and thinks about starting lineup once Siakam returns

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Two wins, by four points combined against two struggling teams. It wasn’t a bad weekend job for the Raptors who are now over .500.

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Most importantly, the X-rays of Scottie Barnes’ hand were negative.

Speaking of Barnes, it doesn’t seem like the back-to-back routine has affected him at all. Once again he was the best player on the court. If you are feeling a theme in this space, you are on to something. Barnes is very, very good. He is a special player.

I asked him Thursday how he’s been feeling so far, as the games and practices that come so often are new to him and very different from his workload in college or high school. Barnes said he felt good and even at the end of Saturday’s game he was still moving.

His second jumping ability is excellent and his touch around the rim and his ability to shoot quickly, even on giants like Myles Turner, has been revealing.

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Of course, the clip that has been circulating of him going coast to coast in just three dribbles was also a sight to see. Raptors fans have to be dancing in the streets over Barnes, the most shocking rookie they’ve seen in these parts probably since Vince Carter (Chris Bosh was also impressing ahead of schedule, but not like Barnes. Bosh seemed like a good starter. from Day 1, but he didn’t hint at how good he was going to eventually be, but Barnes already looks and plays like an All-Star.)

No Goran Dragic, even with Fred VanVleet playing a lot of very physical minutes and even with VanVleet getting into early foul trouble. Interesting. I asked Nick Nurse about Dragic on Friday and he said they are in constant communication and that Dragic needs to be ready. But this saga is likely going in one direction: They will trade it or buy it. The Raptors signed and traded to help Kyle Lowry and get Precious Achiuwa. Dragic was just to make the wages work. He’s a great guy and a good veteran presence, but he wasn’t playing well and he doesn’t fit in in the long run. In six weeks, many more players will be eligible for the trade (off-season free agent signings), which could make a Dragic trade much easier to pull off. Otherwise, I would wait for a purchase.

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One game after the Raptors’ first 50% shooting performance of the year, he returned to 43% working. VanVleet (and others) aren’t thrilled about how physical the game is this year with umpires heavily swallowing their whistles as part of the NBA’s efforts to remove foul bait from the game. However, as VanVleet said, they have been overcorrected and you can expect things to stabilize as the season progresses.

I will have many more thoughts on the starting lineup in the days and weeks to come, but my initial thought is that Nurse doesn’t have perfect options once Pascal Siakam returns. There’s no way Barnes is a sixth man, even though that was his role even as a star at Florida State. You can’t get Siakam, the most decorated and highest paid player on the team, off the bench, possibly outside of a few games as he gets used to playing again. Eliminating VanVleet is obviously an impossibility, as is eliminating OG Anunoby. That leaves Gary Trent, who has been excellent as a starter after not doing as much as a backup. Trent is a great fit in all sorts of ways, but struggling to find a way, it’s not him. The problem with the obvious pick Precious Achiuwa is that you can’t play the big minutes of Siakam or Anunoby in the center all season because they will be exhausted and possibly hurt going against the league giants all the time. And you can’t play Achiuwa, Khem Birch (who I would start) and Chris Boucher as backups. It just won’t work.

But Nurse is much more creative than I am. We’ll see what comes to him when Siakam is ready.

THREE STARS

1- Scottie Barnes

2- Domantas Sabonis

3- Fred VanVleet

THREE STARS VS. MAGIC

1- Scottie Barnes

2- Fred VanVleet

3- Cole Anthony