Raptors’ Barnes to Sign Max Rookie Deal

There is a new era in ‘The Six’. Scottie Barnes is staying with the organization that drafted him for the foreseeable future. The 22-year-old who experienced a coming out party in his third NBA season in 2023-24 and former Rookie of the Year, has comes to terms on a five-year maximum rookie extension worth up to $270 million with the Toronto Raptors, according to ESPN’s senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

Barnes was selected for his first NBA All-Star Game this past season, filling up the stat sheet as a jack of all trades, averaging 19.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game while shooting a cool 47.5% from the field and 34.1% from behind the arc. However, everything was not lollipops and rainbows. He was limited to just 60 games due to a broken hand which required surgery and put him on the shelf for the season’s final 22 games.

After going No. 4 in the 2021 draft out of Florida State University, the third-year guard is guaranteed $225 million in the deal, which will be the most lucrative contract in Raptors franchise history. The Raptors joined the NBA in 1995 as an expansion team. He can elevate to the supermaximum of $270 million by meeting these criteria, which are earning All-NBA team, All-Defensive team or MVP honors.

During his first three NBA seasons, Barnes averaged 16.6 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game while showing off his versatility playing both forward positions and shooting guard. He won NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 2021-22.

He is the first Raptors player to compile 1,000 points, 75 steals and 75 blocks in a single season since Hall of Famer Chris Bosh did so in his second year in the league, in 2004-05, according to ESPN.

Barnes is now without a doubt the vocal point of the Raptors’ revival after the team dealt Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers and OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks at the NBA trade deadline back in February. He leads a young, but talented nucleus that includes RJ Barrett, Gradey Dick, Jalen McDaniels and Jakob Poeltl.

“I promise we will be better,” Barnes posted to social media after Toronto’s season concluded. The Raptors finished 25–57, placing them 12th in the Eastern Conference.

Toronto has the No. 19 and No. 31 selections in the 2024 NBA Draft, which begins Wednesday in Brooklyn at 8 p.m. ET.