TI’s week 5 rookie ladder: Josh Giddey on the rise

No. 1 – Scottie Barnes – Toronto Raptors

Fatigue, a sore thumb, and adjusting to  Pascal Siakam (fewer shots to go around) took a toll on Scottie Barnes in week 5. The latter also impacted chemistry as that duo is just getting to know each other and that transition will continue once OG Anunoby returns to the court.

Notably, Barnes surpassed his minute total from last season at Florida in week 6 of NBA action so considering he’s on his first long West Coast trip, adapting to yet another new lineup (due to injuries), and still dealing with the sore thumb the slight scoring drop in week 5 wasn’t entirely unexpected (although week 6 he’ll make a complete turnaround).

Rookie category rankings:

• Points: 14.8 – first
• Rebounds: 8.5 – first
• Offensive rebounds: 2.9 – first
• Field Goals Made: 6.2 – first
• Minutes per game: 35.1 – first
• Double-Doubles: three (tied for first)
• Blocks: 0.5 – five-way tie for fourth
• Assists: 3.3 – fifth
• Turnovers: 2.2 – fifth
• Steals: 0.9 – four-way tie for fifth

Barnes is a member of the trio who impacts winning and his presence is vital to the Raptors on both sides of the court. His scoring production dipped (10 points) in week 5, but little else did as he averaged 8.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists (one, in particular, was just straight up Giddey-like), and a steal per game all on the road. With Anunoby out injured (and in various games one or both of the Raptors big men), he picked up additional defensive coverages.

That equated to being the primary defender either the entire game or portions of the match on Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Donovan Mitchell, De’Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes, Draymond Green, and yes even Stephen Curry.

Coach Nick Nurse keeps expanding his role now asking him to attempt a couple of 3-pointers per game. Part of the pre-draft knock on Barnes was his unwillingness to shoot and his preference to be a ball distributor but the youngster has seemingly embraced the ask.

Although he’s not likely to ever be a perimeter sniper his form is solid and there are already signs of the Raptors development team helping his stroke (he connected on two of his three attempts in the Warriors match).

He shot 33.3 percent from deep in week 5. Granted that’s not blowing anyone away but through four weeks he was shooting 20 percent from deep and since Nurse asked him to up his attempts he’s shooting 33.3 percent.

Moving forward, there will be another period of adapting as Anunoby, Birch, and Yuta Watanabe return to the court because Barnes didn’t get time with two of those three players in training camp.

Yet, one of the reasons I remain so high on Barnes is how quickly he adapts. There is a visual thread of his learning curve on a per-game basis (sometimes within the same match). Of his myriad of pluses that ability to process new information and adapt expeditiously may be among his best.