What Raptors' Scottie Barnes can learn from Draymond Green

Amit Mann and Harp Grewal discuss what Scottie Barnes can learn from Warriors forward Draymond Green as he aims to make a leap in his third season. Listen to the full episode on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast feed or watch on our YouTube channel.

Video Transcript

HARP GREWAL: --Europe, that knows secondary offense and the flow. Even their early offense wasn't as efficient, like you said. I think they can get more points in early offense.

And going back to Scottie Barnes, that's another area where I think he could excel at, or where he should improve at, for sure, is that Draymond catch and go.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

HARP GREWAL: Get that rebound and go. That opens up the game for everybody. Imagine he caught that rebound, he's going. Now, you have Gradey Dick in the corner, or you have that layup.

AMIT MANN: Mhm.

HARP GREWAL: It's game over. That's tough to guard.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

HARP GREWAL: You know, how does he get there? I don't know, maybe-- maybe he has to cut some-- a little weight to get that body flowing quicker. But I think that is going to take his game to the next level as well.

AMIT MANN: Yeah, playing with pace is going to be important for him. When he-- it shows when he's playing with pace. When he gets the ball, he gets the rebound, he's down the court, and there's 19 seconds left on the shot clock or 20 seconds left, and he's moving-- and in transition, like, we know he's great in transition.

HARP GREWAL: Mhm.

AMIT MANN: You want him converting on those edges that he gets on the defense. If he sees an alley, it's one-on-one, and there's no one at the rim, like, go. Go downhill.

HARP GREWAL: Go, yeah.

AMIT MANN: Right? And he's got to kind of channel that and accept that sometimes, he is going to have to score the ball. It's important--

HARP GREWAL: For sure.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

HARP GREWAL: For sure. And like I said, it would be scary if he can become-- have decision-making like Draymond, but then score at a high, high level. I don't think there'll be too many people that can be able to guard him.

AMIT MANN: No.

HARP GREWAL: That's what Draymond does really well off those pitches, the Warriors action, having the ball in his hands at the top of the elbow. It's hard. It's hard to guard that.

AMIT MANN: 100% it is. I mean, I don't know this for a fact, but I feel like at some point, Nick Nurse, Masai, they all had the conversation with Scottie. And they said, you know, Draymond Green is someone that you could try to model your game after.

HARP GREWAL: For sure.

AMIT MANN: Offensively, he-- I mean, I think Scottie has more upside as an offensive player. I think Draymond Green has said that he has more upside than me. But being that anchor on defense despite not being a seven-footer, and also, being able to create, being a hub offensively. And then you add in some more scoring touch, hopefully a better 3-point shot, and that is a hell of a player when it's all said and done.

And Draymond had some-- he actually had some speed to him in his heyday.

HARP GREWAL: For sure.

AMIT MANN: Maybe now, not so much. Some of those wild layups, like, they happen. [LAUGHS] But this is where Scottie's talent and the advantage he has over a Draymond in the situations like that, like, it could really pop for him. And I hope that the Raptors are able to create a system that allows him to be that kind of player.

Obviously, I think we all wanted to see what does Draymond look like not on the Warriors? Is it as effective? And probably, it's not. But his IQ is elite. His decision-making is elite. The timing is elite.

HARP GREWAL: Very high. No, very high, for sure.

AMIT MANN: Yeah. Anything else on Scottie? Anything else you want to mention?

HARP GREWAL: I feel like this is a big year for him.

AMIT MANN: Sure.

HARP GREWAL: Not a make or break year in a sense of, are we going to see the next step in his game, you know? If he can lead this team this year-- they didn't add too many pieces. If he can come out and be a leader and a captain, I think it's going to create longevity for him in the city, as a Raptor, because teams move quick.

AMIT MANN: Mhm.

HARP GREWAL: If you can't produce, and you're not going to be the All-Star, then they're going to go looking for another guy. So this is a big, big year for Scottie Barnes in terms of production.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

HARP GREWAL: There's no-- there's no more Scottie Barnes, you go for 15, and we're going to go 41-41. And Scottie Barnes, we need you to go for 20. We need to have an impact for 40 minutes. And we need to make the playoffs with you leading the charge.

AMIT MANN: And we haven't talked about it yet, but I mean, at some point, your role in the NBA does get defined. And he's got a few more years before that happens. I think the Raptors will give him the leash.

But you want to make sure that you are in the role that you want to be in, that believe you're in. Because once you kind of miss the window, now all of a sudden, you are a secondary option, or you're a third option, or you're a bench big, or whatever the case is, right?

And he has to avoid that. And he has to define himself as a number one option or the Draymond Green type-- but it's time to-- like, at some point, to me, you want him to define what he is.

But he's also kind of a unicorn. He's so unique as a player. So that's going to be kind of his challenge. And I'm assuming that the Raptors, with some of the changes that have happened with the roster, and obviously how things go this season, that they're going to give him the rope to find himself in the NBA, what he's going to be.

HARP GREWAL: No, for sure. How long do you think they give him?

AMIT MANN: That's a good question. That's a good question. I think this season will teach us a lot. If there's progression, if we walk away from this season and we're like, we see it now, then you buy another year, right?

HARP GREWAL: Mhm.

AMIT MANN: But if we're not seeing it, then yeah, it's going to look a little bit different.