Luka Doncic Shows the High Standard the Raptors See for Scottie Barnes in Mavericks Victory
Remember Darko Rajaković’s rant earlier this season?
The one in which he eviscerated the referees for what he thought was biased officiating against his Toronto Raptors in Los Angeles. You probably do.
Maybe you remember what he said about Scottie Barnes that night: “Scottie Barnes is gonna be (an) all-star. He is gonna be the face of this league,” he told reporters in between venting his frustration about the referees.
In hindsight, Rajaković was spot on about the first part. Barnes was named to his first All-Star Game earlier this year and has looked every bit the part this season. But that second part, well, that’ll be tough.
Barnes is good, very good. But the young talent in the NBA right now is ridiculous.
Look no further than Luka Doncic who celebrated his 25th birthday Wednesday night with an other-worldly performance in a 136-125 victory for the Dallas Mavericks over the Raptors.
Doncic is the kind of do-it-all offensive player Toronto can only hope Barnes can begin to recreate. He’ll turn split-second openings into pull-up jumpers and if you double him, he can somehow weave passes through defenders that seem almost impossible.
At one point in the first half, Toronto tried to double the All-World Slovenian who wiggled through the double team and threw a no-look over-the-head one-handed pass to the corner that found Tim Hardaway Jr. perfectly in the shooter’s pocked and turned into a Mavericks three.
In moments, Barnes can recreate some of that magic.
He has the no-look passes and some of the playmaking chops of the Mavericks’ MVP candidate. When it comes to that part of the game, there are genuinely some similarities.
But in terms of scoring, Barnes is still developing his pull-up game and finishing moves. He can back his man down in the paint, muscling his way toward the hoop for tough buckets, and is always a threat in transition, but the next step is unlocking more offensive moves to draw more attention.
What will that look like? What can Barnes become?
“We have those kinds of conversations regularly,” Rajaković said when that question was put to him Wednesday evening. “I have a very high opinion and very high hopes for him. At the same time, what really makes me happy is that he sees things the same way I do. He's 22 years old. He's not perfect. He has a lot of things to improve and get better on. But the best thing about Scottie is he's hungry to put the work in and to listen.”
The safe money is Barnes won’t be the offensive weapon Doncic is. Comparing him to the NBA’s leading scorer and third-leading assist creator is probably an unfair standard to hold him to. But that’s what ‘face of this league’ means in a league with 25-year-old Doncic, 25-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a 20-year-old Victor Wembanyama, and another half dozen or so young All-Star players heading in that direction.
"This era of the NBA is just amazing (with) the talent of all the players," Rajaković said. "We're really blessed to live in this area and to be part of the NBA at this time. Just got to enjoy it and learn those guys and how we can best continue to develop — the whole league.”
Even if Barnes doesn’t reach that level offensively, that doesn’t mean he can’t come close in terms of overall impact.
It was Barnes, after all, who spent the majority of the night defending Doncic while the Mavericks’ lead guard used the defensive end as an opportunity to recharge his battery. While Doncic moves like a 25-year-old on the offensive end with the burst, playmaking skills, and wizardry on par with anyone, his defense looks more like that of a 45-year-old.
Barnes didn’t quite slow Doncic down, but it was admirable that he tried. He did strip Doncic once, sliding over to help on a double-team before ripping the ball out of Doncic’s hands and scoring a transition dunk. He forced the 6-foot-7 point guard into a few tough shots, but even the tough shots really aren’t that tough for Doncic.
"Somebody asked me before the game about Luka, what he can get better at?" Rajaković said. "Nothing."
After Toronto hung around for most of the first half, Doncic flexed in the third quarter, dropping 11 of his game-high 30 points in the frame as the Mavericks turned a one-point halftime deficit into a 14-point lead.
Doncic nailed an and-1 through contact from Kelly Olynyk late in the fourth and any hope of a Raptors comeback vanished. He finished the night with 16 assists and 11 rebounds to go with his 30 points in a triple-double effort.
Barnes opened the fourth quarter with an eight-foot floater, a savvy dump-off pass to Jakob Poeltl, and a driving layup as Toronto tried to claw back. He went right at Dante Exum and scored a floater through contact for the and-1. But the three-point shot Barnes seemed to have developed earlier this season has disappeared lately.
"He's still a young player that goes through those ups and downs," Rajaković said of Barnes' three-point shooting. "What I do know is that he's putting a lot of work in, that he's getting all the reps that he needs, and I'm very confident he's going to bounce back very soon."
Barnes finished the night with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists but was 0-for-5 from three-point range and hasn't looked the same behind the arc in nearly two months.
The loss snapped Toronto’s three-game winning streak, but there was still a lot to be optimistic about for the Raptors who saw all five starters reach double figures.
Immanuel Quickley had 27 points on 10-for-18 shooting with eight assists. RJ Barrett chipped in with 23 points. Jakob Poeltl’s ankle injury didn’t seem to slow him down as he added 16 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists.
Up Next: Golden State Warriors
Speaking of star power, it's not going to get any easier for Toronto on Friday night when Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors come to town for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff at Scotiabank Arena.
