OKC Thunder versus Raptors: the Canadian Bowl – preview
The other major matchup that will be fun to watch is the top drafted rookies from each team. While the OKC Thunder sixth pick, Josh Giddey was named the Western Conference Rookie of the month for October/November the Raptors fourth pick, Scottie Barnes was snubbed.
Not that Evan Mobley isn’t spectacular (he is) but it’s the first time I remember a rookie getting the nod over another when another player was first in the majority of the key categories.
The rationale by most who picked Mobley was because the Cavaliers are winning – so does that mean Ayo Dosunmu will win Rookie of the Year? By the way, he’s amazing and was a steal in the second round for the Bulls.
It’s also a fairly weak argument given Siakam, VanVleet and OG Anunoby have played all of three games together this season and two of those were Pascal’s first back on the court after offseason shoulder surgery.
Barnes had to develop chemistry on the fly with numerous members of the roster who weren’t available for all of training camp (Siakam, Birch, Achiuwa, etc). Plus the constant change in lineups because of injuries has been a lot for a rookie to deal with. Giddey is likely the only other starting rookie dealing with a similar situation.
Anunoby is the big loss as he’s the Raptors best defender and leads the team in scoring is one of the primary scoring options He ranks second to FVV in the NBA for minutes played per game (37.3) another sign of how much he’s missed.
The other reason the argument is lame is if the Raptors beat the Thunder and the Cavs lose to the Bulls tonight the Raptors will be a half-game back of Cleveland with the same number of losses. We’ll see how things progress but I’d argue it’s likely the Raptors would be ahead of Cleveland if they’d been healthy.
Scottie Barnes has a unique ability that I’ve honestly only witnessed to the same degree with Giddey and Mobley. They adapt quickly to lessons learned, sometimes even in the same game but usually within a game or two of experiencing a situation, being shown film or in practice. Just like we’re anxious to see how much Josh will grow over the season the same is true of Barnes.
Both rookies have put on some impressive performances this season and rarely had rough outings. I’m hopeful we get their best tonight because it’ll be a fun match if we do.