The Raptors have exercised the fourth-year option on Scottie Barnes‘ rookie scale contract for the 2024/25 season, the team announced today in a press release.
Barnes’ salary for the 2023/24 season – approximately $8MM – had already been locked in. Today’s move also fully guarantees his $10,130,980 salary for ’24/25, putting him on track to become eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2024 offseason.
Barnes, 22, earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2022 after being drafted fourth overall in 2021. He didn’t take a meaningful step forward in his second NBA season, averaging 15.3 points per game for a second straight year while his FG% (.456), 3PT% (.281), and rebounds per game (6.6) all dipped a little. However, he showed more flashes of potential as a play-maker and continued to display his defensive versatility.
The Raptors remain very high on Barnes’ long-term upside, having reportedly made him unavailable when they got involved in the Damian Lillard sweepstakes during the offseason.
Barnes’ rookie scale option was the only one Toronto had to make a decision on by the October 31 deadline, as our tracker shows.
While perhaps not a slap in the face and supported (in general) by game stats/impact, it may generate some animosity between the Raptors’ other young players (Achiuwa and Flynn) and the the Raptors brace. Hopefully not and Achiuwa and Flynn have milestone seasons with the Raps!
I’m optimistic that much of the NBA (US media) are sleeping on the Raptors this season… Tip-off time!
What are you even talking about?
Pretty simple really. Raptors extended Barnes and declined to extend Achiuwa and Flynn. If you’re Achiuwa, how does this make you feel? Pretty clear that the Raptors have more belief in Barnes’ skillset/potential than Achiuwa. While it may foster new motivation for Achiuwa to “show what he can do”, it could also be a confidence hit. Being part of a group/organization that doesn’t show you trust/respect/value is not good for moral or success.