Is Scottie Barnes ready to be a starting PG?

Amit Mann is joined by Seerat Sohi of The Ringer to discuss whether or not Scottie Barnes is ready to be a starting PG and if it's the best position for his future. Listen to the full episode on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast feed or watch on our YouTube channel.

Video Transcript

SEERAT SOHI: I'm kind of just curious, like, do you see him being a point guard long term, like, 5, 10 years from now? Is that where you see Scottie?

AMIT MANN: I think if his ball handling and shooting develops, I think yes. I think he has a vision. I like the idea of him at that height, being able to see over defenses. And we've already seen, like, how good that is.

And he is playing point guard right now, actually. Like, he's the backup point guard because Malachi and Dalano have not performed to the level that they want. There has been some injuries, too. But he is getting backup point guard minutes.

And he's in some lineups that I think are a little bit odd, to say the least. I don't think he's in advantageous positions to be a point guard, but he's succeeding. And he's turning the ball over less. He's making the safe play.

And the Raptors using more pick and roll-- it's an outlet for offense, right?

SEERAT SOHI: Mm-hmm.

AMIT MANN: You force the team to double. Maybe there's a slip pass. You get a mismatch, you can find a roller. There's alley-oop chances. There's a cutter.

And he has so many skills, he's able to utilize whatever array of skills he has, he has something that he can do in probably most facets, right? And then playing next action basketball, Marc Gasol, that kind of style, I think it suits him because he's got a brain that is moving probably a lot faster than most players on the court. And so playing that style of basketball, you get to tap into it. And you're going to get a better version of Scottie Barnes, to me.

SEERAT SOHI: Mm-hmm.

AMIT MANN: Why is he passive? I think part of it this season was that he was being asked-- and the Raptors as a whole, they didn't know what their offensive identity was. And so he was asked to be a floor stretcher.

His catch-and-shoot numbers aren't that bad. But at the same time, like, why are you using Scottie Barnes as a floor stretcher? Like, that's not him. That's not what he should be doing. There are other guys who should be doing that.

So I think that did have a portion of why he was playing passive. But even in your piece, he said, "I have to grow out of being passive." Do you think that's NBA reps? Or do you think that's, like, a character trait of his?

SEERAT SOHI: I think it's both.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

SEERAT SOHI: I think it's a character trait. I think he's naturally an unselfish player. He's going to want to be distributing the ball.

I think part of the shooting stuff earlier this season was just him trying to integrate some of the things that he worked on in the offseason into his game, trying to figure out, OK, like, can I-- he worked on his shot a ton. Like, is it going to have arrived yet? It appears to have not.

And we saw this with Pascal Siakam, that type of stuff can take years. But it's good that he's working on it now. But we might not see the fruits of that labor for another two or three years, or who knows? Who knows how long it's going to take, right?

But yeah, I think that he's just kind of a naturally selfless guy. I think he's somebody who grew up really-- he really idolized Magic Johnson. And I think that kind of--

I really go back and forth on the idea of a 6' 9" point guard in general. Obviously, Magic Johnson did it. LeBron James is probably the closest since. Even he didn't play that position for his entire career. He moved around a lot, which I think is something-- like, not to compare Scottie and LeBron, but I think that's something we might see with Scottie.

I'm more of the opinion that if you have that level of size and if you have that level of strength, there's a reason that everyone's trying to get to the rim. There's a reason that the Milwaukee Bucks won a championship basically just blocking off the rim. That's where everybody wants to be. And I just--

AMIT MANN: Sure.

SEERAT SOHI: --I look back at that Bucks game in January, and just him going at Brook Lopez, who was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, over and over again, against a team that their worst nightmare is you get to the rim. And he's just getting there over and over again. That is such an unstoppable skill that I feel like I'd just rather see him do that, as opposed to be on the perimeter.

I love him creating plays. But I think also, like, creating plays in the paint is one of the most valuable things that you can be able to do. That's why I think the Raptors should get a playmaking point guard who can kind of set the table, whether it's for Pascal to just be Pascal, or whether it's for Scottie to attack from underneath the rim.

Because that's where he's the most dangerous, too. A lot of opponents aren't necessarily going to respect Scottie completely on the perimeter. But the second he's in the paint, like, you know you have to watch for him. You know you have to be watching for him pretty much every second.

So I think part of it is just where he's positioned on the floor sometimes. Like, he just gets a little-- when he's on the perimeter, it feels like sometimes, he doesn't know if he should be spotting up or cutting, whereas there's just a lot more clarity with his role if he's playing, like, the three or the four, or even the five.

AMIT MANN: When I mentioned him playing point guard, I think it's within the vein of-- the goal for any offense is that you want to be able to touch the paint, right? And if you have a player that can touch the paint naturally and just glide there, you're already creating advantages, like, right off the bat.

But the ball handling and shooting are the things that has to get better because then, they can sag off you. Or maybe you're not confident with the ball, like, they can press up on you, and turnovers happen. Like, live ball turnovers are like-- these are awful. They ruin your offense. They ruin everything.

SEERAT SOHI: Yeah.

AMIT MANN: A few of those, and your offense is down the tank. But he has to get there first. And that's why I like this role that he's in, like, while he hones those skills--