TORONTO – The numbers don’t tell the full story; they never really do.

Coming off his 2023-24 breakout, the common misconception is that Scottie Barnes has plateaued or even taken a small step backwards in his fourth NBA season. At least that’s what the statistics might suggest.

On a per 36-minute basis, the counting stats are virtually identical to his production from last year: 20.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists. The only other players to average at least 20-8-6 per 36 this season are Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and Zion Williamson. Not bad at all.

If there’s a concern, it’s the decline in efficiency across the board. Barnes is shooting 44 per cent from the field and 27 per cent from three-point range – both career lows and down from 48 and 34 per cent, respectively, last season. He’s also turning the ball over at his highest rate ever.

The 2024-25 season has been a mixed bag for the Raptors star. It started with an inadvertent Jokic elbow to the face, fracturing his orbital bone and costing him 11 games, and will end this week with a nagging hand injury that has limited him and contributed to his shooting woes.

To appreciate the 23-year-old’s progress over the past 12 months, throw the numbers out the window. The most obvious area of growth has come on the defensive end, where Barnes has really blossomed, especially since the turn of the calendar.

Notably, but not coincidently, Toronto ranks inside the top five in defence since the start of January and its best player is most responsible for the drastic improvement – it was a bottom-five unit over the first couple months of the season.

With his size, athleticism, versatility, and defensive instincts, he’s always had elite upside. Unlocking it required a more consistent level of effort and focus, as it often does with young players. Now that he’s shown what that looks like, it’s reasonable to think he could continue developing into one of the league’s very best defenders.

But in speaking with people around the organization, the area of growth that excites them most is something that’s hard to quantify and won’t show up in the box score.

When Pascal Siakam was traded last winter, Barnes was thrust into an unfamiliar role as the leader and face of the franchise. He simply wasn’t ready for it, nor was he expected to be at that stage, and what we saw was a 22-year-old learning and adapting on the fly.

Since then, he’s signed a $225 million maximum contract extension. He became a father, which has a way of expediting the maturation process. He went through........

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