EDMONTON — With a crowd of almost 7,000 fans in attendance, Scottie Barnes saunters onto the court at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, home to a Raptors intrasquad scrimmage. While most of his teammates sprinted in when they were introduced, trying to keep the energy up, Barnes won’t be rushed. He lifts his right arm and points to one end of the arena, lifts his left and points to the other. He’s a showman. He loves this stuff. After the scrimmage, flanked by Shelby Weaver, Raptors director of basketball operations and culture, Barnes is the last player out with the fans, signing autographs while practically encircled.
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A day earlier, it’s just him, O.G. Anunoby and assistant coach Earl Watson on the far end of the gym at the University of Victoria. Even while dealing with an injured finger for most of the season, Anunoby hit 69 above-the-break 3-pointers in 48 games last season. In his rookie of the year campaign, Barnes hit 36 in 74 games. Aside from one hot stretch in the first half of the season, Barnes wasn’t much of a factor from deep, and defences routinely sagged off him. Yet, as the two sturdy swingmen launch 3s from the elbow, it’s hard to tell which guy is the established 3-and-D practitioner and which one is the prodigious talent who critics worried would never develop his jumper.
