NEWSLETTER
The Toronto Raptors are officially locking in their franchise player.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Scottie Barnes and the Raptors are in agreement on a max rookie extension worth up to $270 million over five years. The move doesn’t come as much of a surprise. After blowing up the roster this season by trading Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, Toronto was keen on rebuilding their roster around Barnes. Now that building block is officially locked in.
Scottie Barnes Gets Paid By Raptors
Barnes was outstanding for the Raptors last season averaging 19.9 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, and 6.1 assists per game. The third-year forward out of Florida State also shot an efficient 47.1% from the field and a solid 34.1% from three – all without much help after Toronto started moving out pieces around the trade deadline.
Barnes was not set to be a restricted free agent until after next season, but he became extension-eligible after the 2023-24 campaign.
The Raptors and Bulls, prior to the beginning of last season, were essentially seen as the Spiderman meme versions of each other. Both teams had good-not-great cores that were good enough to get them to a Play-In game or two but not much beyond that. Toronto blew things up last year and started their rebuild, however. And, now, after the Alex Caruso trade, it appears the Bulls could be on a similar path.
Toronto was able to turn Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby into RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and a bunch of draft capital. The Bulls have turned Alex Caruso into Josh Giddey, but it remains to be seen what they can get for Zach LaVine and potentially DeMar DeRozan (via sign-and-trade) or Nikola Vucevic if they choose to go that route.
The Raptors have done a nice job taking their aging veterans and building a young nucleus around Scottie Barnes. While the Bulls might not have a Barnes-level player on their roster, Coby White had a serious breakout season last year. Another one like that and the Bulls might have one of their core pieces for the future. Hopefully, the Bulls can take a page out of Toronto’s playbook by getting younger and picking up assets in the process.
