A miserable start to the season just got even worse for the Toronto Raptors.
2022 NBA Rookie of the Year and 2024 All-Star Scottie Barnes is expected to be sidelined for multiple weeks with a right ankle sprain, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Barnes suffered the injury during the third quarter in a loss to the New York Knicks on Monday night when he landed on Karl-Anthony Towns as he was attempting to block a shot. Barnes was unable to put any weight on his right foot at the time of the injury and had to be helped off the court by his teammates.
The injury marks another setback for Barnes after the fourth-year player missed 11 games earlier this season with a right orbital fracture.
Although the Raptors (7-18) currently have the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference ahead of the Washington Wizards (3-19), Barnes has been fantastic.
When he has been healthy, Barnes has averaged career highs in points (20.6 PPG), rebounds (8.4 RPG) and assists (7.4 APG). He is one of four players in the league averaging those numbers, which speaks to his versatility on the court.
In the 11 games Barnes has already missed, Toronto went just 2-9, which says a lot about his overall importance to the team. The Raptors are going to need more from leading scorer RJ Barrett (23.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 5.8 APG), Gradey Dick (17.9 PPG) and Jakob Poeltl (15.9 PPG, 11.6 RPG) in Barnes’ absence.
With the Raptors positioned toward the bottom of the league, the loss of their All-Star forward during a career year is going to be hard to overcome.
