Darko Rajakovic has high hopes for Scottie Barnes.
The Raptors head coach has not lacked confidence in his young 23-year-old star. Just last year he called Barnes the “face of the league.”
Now he thinks Barnes can average a triple-double. Rajakovic spoke to reporters postgame about Barnes following the Raptors’ loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers, via TSN Sports:
“I do pretty good job of seeing the future. I think Scottie [Barnes] in this league he’s going to be a player who’s gonna be averaging double-doubles and I can see Scottie couple years from now down the stretch averaging triple-doubles in this league…he can rebound, he pass the guy and he can score. So I think he’s going to become that at some point”
Barnes fell just short of a triple-double against the NBA-leading Cavaliers putting up 24 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. He has slowly rounded into form after returning from his ankle sprain last month. In 25 games this season Barnes is averaging 20.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.4 steals on 47.5 percent shooting from the field. He’s averaging more points, assists and steals than his All-Star year last season. However, his three-point shooting has dipped as the fourth year player is shooting only 28.8 percent from three this season.
Barnes is the face of the franchise and he will be the driving force of this Raptors rebuild. He has shown he can be the jack of all trades. However, he still needs to show that he can be the trusted no. 1 option, especially in late game situations.
With the Raptors at full strength, roles are starting to become defined and it will be important to see how Barnes fares for the remainder of this season with a healthy supporting cast.
While there might still be skeptics out there when it comes to Barnes’ game, Rajakovic has full faith in Barnes becoming a special player in this league.
3 takeaways from Raptors falling short to Cavaliers
The Toronto Raptors went toe-to-toe with the Cleveland Cavaliers but fell short 132-126.
Here are 3 takeaways from the game.
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