Why Scottie Barnes Is The Rookie Of The Year

The 2021 Rookie Class has been flat-out special to watch.

But as the regular season winds down, three first-year players – Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and Toronto Raptors Scottie Barnes – have clearly separated themselves from the rest of the pack.

Only one can be named this year’s Rookie of the Year.

For now, Mobley remains the betting favorite, but with the Raptors surging, and Barnes making another leap post-all-star break… it’s Scottie that should claim this year’s most-outstanding freshmen.

#ScottieBarnes #TorontoRaptors #NBARookieOfTheYear

[briansella]

Scottie is the 5th option on this Toronto team after Freddy, Siakam, OG and Gary. They all average more points than him. If Scottie was asked to score more, he could. Instead, he has the highest win percentage among rookies on a tough playoff team in the super tough East. All 3 are generational talents, this whole draft class is special, but Scottie has quietly put together the best rookie campaign.

[babarindewilliams]

If Scottie was playing for the Lakers or Knicks or Celtics .... there's even no debate. He would be ROY with no debate.

[franklee]

I do hope Scottie Barnes wins NBA Rookie of the Year.

[ijaazabdulla]

Scottie is the most versatile rookie by far. He can play Any position and defend any position effectively. He can pass (crazy no looks), score on high efficiency (15.5 ppg, 49%), and is almost averaging 8 rebounds per game. If I went up to an NBA fan and showed these stats to them, the fact that this player is a rookie wouldn’t even cross their mind. Scottie is absolutely nuts. Can’t forget that the Raptors are doing way better than the Cavs and especially the Pistons standings wise. This voting should be a blowout in Scottie’s favour. I’m not even a raptors fan, my complete unbiased opinion (with several facts thrown in).

[livevideos]

Scottie is an all round player.. put him on any position he will shine

[BrokeredHeart]

I can admire what Mobley is accomplishing with the Cavs, but in terms of the roles he's being asked to play in their system, it can't compete with what Scottie does. He's played all 5 positions, he can guard in zone or on man, taking on some of the league's best shooters. He can block, he generates steals, and he rebounds - formerly a weakness of this Raptors roster. Then on the offensive end, he's played point setting up the plays, he checks centers under the rim, he makes wild no-look dishes to teammates, he can dribble, hit jumpers, sink threes, blow by guys to the rim, AND, he generates second chances for his teammates. He has the right attitude and fun nature that blends well with this team, which I'm sure every team says about their draft pick, but Scottie has become pivotal to how the Raptors play their game. He's the obvious choice for ROTY to anyone watching Toronto Raptors basketball, and that's the problem - the league and the fans largely ignore this franchise because it's not on US soil. For a team that was written off at the start of the season, with many projections having them out of the play-in, they've out-performed their expectations, and yet it still doesn't impress any of them.

[keeshandave]

Scottie Barnes is the Golden Child I the NBA. I hope he wins Rookie of the Year this year! Hopefully

[WeTheNorthRaptors]

Scottie plays positions 1 - 5 and defends positions 1 - 5. Clearly ROTY imo

[ibrahimnoormohammed]

Can I just say that I love the Score is putting out content like this? This is great guys, keep it up!

[danacross]

Even the NBA hardly covers the Raptors let alone the sport networks in the USA. Since the Raptors are in the NBA they should be covered like any other team. I follow the NBA pass and there is virtually nothing about them on their news programme. I find this strange since the Bluejays are covered like any other team in MLB or Canadian hockey teams in the NHL.

[maxcali]

Scottie Barnes is the ROTY, but since he plays for the Raptors they will not give him the votes I feel.

[J-jizzy_]

This should be a joint ROTY because both mobley and Barnes deserve the award. This has been the tightest rookie race that I can remember!

[paulb]

Raptors would be a completely different team if Barnes wasnt who he is. He's incredible. He does it all and is always looking for his teammates first, and also not afraid to yam it when the time comes!

[garyluk]

I don’t know what meets the criteria or checklist for ROY. Some say it’s more of a personal award and to see how rookies perform entering the NBA, so Cade is definitely up there with his stats. But for me it’s hard not to put winning into perspective and value in meaningful minutes and games. Scottie has made winning plays consistently in crunch time when it matters. Like everyone, I do hope Scottie wins it or maybe even have a co-ROY with Evan Mobley because he is also a beast and he gets more publicity down south. Finally, I think the talent of this draft class is amazing and I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone makes an all star or become a central piece of their franchise in years to come…let’s go Scottie ROY🥳🥳👍🏻

[darcard]

Scottie is the fifth option on a starting lineup, on a winning team, where he does not have plays set for him, where the other 4 starters have even better stats than his. (Siakam 22.4pts/8.3Reb/5.2ast;) (VanVleet 20.3pts/4.5Reb/6.7Ast); (Trent Jr 18.1pts/2.8/2Ast); (OG 17.4pts/5.4Reb/2 Ast); and still Scottie is able to achieve the stats he does Remember there are only so many pts&defensive rebounds/team to be had noting Scottie has 2.6OR as a big chunk of his REBs; quite often resulting in his pts!!! Lets forget about rookies! Name one fifth option of any age or position, on any starting lineup, on any team that puts up 15pts! There are none! Hard to find a third option that does it on a staring lineup, or even coming off the bench! He should be 6th man of the year because there is no 5th man award! Scottie’s PER is 16.56 putting him 101st in the whole league for qualifying players. Mobley’s is 15.87 making him 125th. While Cade’s is 13.46 dropping him down to 210th in the league for qualifying players. All other advance stats put Scottie as the best rookie. It’s cut in dry. There is no real debating. There are only people/commentators/writers trying to justify there bias for an entire year of disrespect within the US media towards Scottie Barnes. It would take eating a lot of crow to vote for Scottie Barnes; not something most are willing to do. Not to mention Scottie barnes truly plays 1-5 at a high level and defends the same. Usually assigned to the top players picking their pockets on any given night. Where were the highlight reels being shown on US media. LeBron, Joker, Durant, Sabonis, Luka, etc, etc, etc!!! It was never shown! Why? It’s there on the tapes. Stats and tape don’t lie. People do!!!

How much more can be said? Trivial things like pretenders all finding reason not to finish the season down the line (no gains in playing now); and rest their cases on their old US media highlight reels. While Scottie continues to go out and drive his team up the standings latter preparing for the playoffs.

Remember they didn’t like the taste of crow in 2019 either!!!

[미치-xd]

This draft class is loaded with talent. Who do you think will make an allstar team next year?

[pensarebasketball]

Here's Sottie VS Cade:
Scottie Win Shares: +6.4
Cade Win Shares: negative 0.2 (that's right. NEGATIVE win shares find a rookie in NBA HISTORY who became all-nba after posting less than 1 win share as a rookie.)

Scottie PER: 16.4
CADE PER: 13.3

Scottie Usage: 19.1%
Cade Usage: 27.4% (this is close to LeBron level opportunities as a rookie)

Scottie True Shooting%- 55.1%
Cade True Shooting% - 50.6%

Scottie fun facts:
• First rookie since Shaquille O'Neal in 1993 with 25 points, 15 rebounds and 5 steals.
• First rookie since Derrick Rose in 2008 to start a game 10/10 from the field.
• First rookie EVER to do 25/15/5 on above 85% shooting.

Here are Scottie's numbers in the 19 games he's matched up against recent All-Stars and MVP candidates head to head (Jokic, Giannis, Doncic, DeRozan, Tatum, LeBron, Butler, Durant, Sabonis)
18.3PPG, 8.4RPG, 3.74APG, 55 FG%
Here are Scottie's numbers against the two teams most people had as title favourites coming into the season, the Nets and the Lakers:
21.5ppg, 11.83rpg, 4.7apg, 63.5 FG%
And here are his numbers in 48 games NOT facing those players head to head:
14.1ppg, 7.25rpg, 3.37apg, 46 FG%

He puts his big numbers up against good teams. He saves his 6 point games for Sacramento.

[alastairchong]

Scottie vid, raptor vid a week ago n another about Canada's men's soccer, the canadian love is appreciated

[projectx]

As a raptors fan, I really hope Scottie wins it but we couldn't say hes the real ROTY yet.

I do give credit to Mobley's defensive impact on the cavs along with Allen, but he just gets spoonfed baskets, and he is playing with all-stars. Hes surely making an impact on his team and I believe he'll be a future DPOY.

Scottie Barnes makes a huge impact both offensive and defensive ends. On the offensive end, he can play 1-5 positions, makes great passes, can score, and leads the team in offensive rebounds (I think?). On the defensive end, he can guard 1-5 positions and also contributes on their defense.

Lets say Cade is having a historic season. Hes the best offensive player out of the 3 rooks. He, along with Seddiq Bey are carrying the trash ass piston team. I know he got injured the first few games of the season but what he had showed after that shows some light for the future. Cade a potential MVP or a HOF. The rookie race is getting tighter.

I might be missing some mentions, but someone correct me if I'm missing some.

[yyswvgr]

Give it to Scottie Barnes 💪🏽 most consistent, can guard and play 5 positions. Not spoon fed shots too!