TORONTO – Scottie Barnes has always been able to do special things on the defensive end of the basketball court.

Before he was zipping no-look passes across the floor, mastering the mid-range or posting triple-doubles, the Florida State product tantalized NBA scouts with his lofty defensive upside. At 6-foot-7 and with an enormous 7-foot-2 wingspan, Barnes had the physical tools, as well as the motor, to grow into an elite stopper at the sport’s highest level. It was among the first things that the Raptors noticed and fell in love with.

“[He’s a] super versatile defender and I think he hangs his hat on that,” Toronto’s general manager Bobby Webster said in a Zoom press conference (remember Zoom press conferences?) from Tampa shortly after making Barnes the fourth-overall pick in the 2021 draft. “Defensively, you see that he wants to do it and I think he has that desire.”

It’s not that Barnes has fallen short of those expectations four years into his professional career, but when his offensive game developed quicker than anticipated that became the thing most people focused on. As he pointed out earlier this week, he’s generally not talked about as one of the league’s top defenders, even though he feels like he should be included in that group. Perhaps that’s about to change.

Over the past seven games – a stretch in which they’ve gone 6-1 – the Raptors have been the NBA’s best defensive team, allowing 105.4 points per 100 possessions. This is the same club that was surrendering 121.3 points per 100 – dead last in the league – when they lost 16 of 17 games earlier this season.

There’s more than one reason for this drastic improvement, but the simplest explanation is that the team’s most important player is playing the best defence of his life. The eye test and the numbers tell the same story. With Barnes on the floor, Toronto is holding opponents to a remarkable 99.3 points per 100........

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