Doc Rivers Praises Raptors Rookie Scottie Barnes

On Saturday, the Philadelphia 76ers will begin the 2022 NBA Playoffs against the Toronto Raptors. Although the Raptors are far from the same team they were a few years back when they defeated the Sixers on their road to becoming NBA Finals champions, Toronto has built up a solid squad since losing two stars in Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry over the last few seasons.

One player that stood out for the Raptors this season is their high-end draft pick, Scottie Barnes. After a disappointing year in 2020-2021, the Raptors found themselves near the top of the 2021 NBA Draft order. With their fourth-overall selection, the Raptors snagged Florida State standout, Scottie Barnes.

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers admitted he didn't know too much about Barnes going into the draft this year -- but he found out a lot about the young standout during the regular season as the Sixers faced the Raptors numerous times.

The Raptors received stellar production out of the rookie as he started in 74 games this year. In those matchups, Barnes averaged 15 points while draining 49-percent of his field goal attempts and hitting on 30-percent of his threes.

In addition to his scoring, Barnes came down with seven rebounds and averaged three assists. With the regular season in the rearview and the playoffs approaching, Barnes is a candidate for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award. And following a practice session into the week leading up to the first-round series between the Sixers and the Raptors, Doc Rivers praised the young forward for his progress in year one.

Doc Praises Barnes

“He’s amazing," said Rivers. "One of the things that I have decided as a coach is that I don’t get involved much anymore in the draft. Daryl and Elton sit me down and try to figure out what works for me and what type of player I want and what the team needs plus what fits me, other than that, up until the day of and they show me film, I don’t even have their names. Especially if we go deep in the playoffs. You know, because of the Ben thing last year, we did watch a lot of film on guys and Scottie Barnes was one of them. He was good on film, but he’s way better, unfortunately, in person. He’s a good player, he doesn’t act like it. If you saw Scottie Barnes and didn’t know he was a rookie, you would swear he’s been in the league for ten years.”  

Hearing that the Sixers at least did their due diligence on scouting Barnes isn't shocking. After all, he was one of the top prospects in the draft. But since Philadelphia's first pick this past offseason didn't come until 24 selections after Barnes was taken by Toronto, it was always a longshot for Philadelphia to land him.

Barnes wasn't a Sixers killer this past regular season, but he was quietly reliable for Toronto in the three matchups he appeared in against Philly. In each of the three matchups, Barnes scored exactly 13 points. On the boards, he averaged eight rebounds per game. It's unclear how much of Barnes' impressive rookie season will translate to the postseason in year one, but the Sixers will surely have their eyes on the 20-year-old standout as it's a new season moving forward.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.