He just sent the NBA a SERIOUS Message...

He just sent a serious message to the entire NBA. Scottie Barnes has been catching a lot of strays, some disrespect across the league, and in his final game of this year, really sent a message for what's to come for next season. But it wasn't just him, as a lot of guys that got out there on the court for the Toronto Raptors in the final game, the final stretch of the season, played very solid. And even though the Raptors did lose to the San Antonio Spurs, there were a few things that really should get Raptors fans excited. a little bit of momentum picking up going into next year for some specific player so we're gonna break down what's going on with this team how we can reflect on this season here now at this point but most importantly what Scottie Barnes just did to really put the NBA on notice in terms of heading into next year so lots of stuff to break down in this video but folks game 82 is over and i appreciate every single one of you that tuned into the videos over the course of this season of course It wasn't the greatest season for the Toronto Raptors, but we cover it all. We give you daily Toronto Raptors news coverage. So this offseason should be a pretty wild one as we try to get back into the playoff picture for next year. So make sure you guys hit that subscribe button. Join the community. You know, Raptors Digest videos don't slow down despite the Raptors going off air. But let's dive into it because we got our final game to react to and, you know, break down because the Toronto Raptors lost this game 118 to 125. They were up for a big chunk of it. The third quarter was a messy situation, but I'm not worried about this game. I'm not worried about standings. I'm not worried about any of that, because all that's done here now at this point. What I'm worried about is what we just saw from Scottie Barnes, who had one of his best games of the season, 35 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, did have 4 turnovers, which is unfortunate and all that stuff, but 15 of 23 shooting, 2 of 2 from the 3-point line, 3 of 4 from the free-throw line, because that was a big issue in the most recent game against the Mavericks. Scottie Barnes just gave a flash just gave an indication just sent a message to the entire NBA about what he's going to be able to do going into next year and i want this brought up because of course i've been outspoken on the videos about how i don't want RJ Barrett traded i'm excited for Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes yes it has been overall a disappointing season for Scottie Barnes and 19 points eight rebounds six assists you look at that and you say ben some some people are like that's more than a disappointment he's a max contract guy be harder on the guy that also people you know 19 uh eight and six for a guy that's 23 years old he's a budding star in the league what else do you expect and I think there's a middle ground with Scottie Barnes because of course we all want that three-point shooting to increase we want that to improve the overall percentages only shooting 26 percent from the three-point line this season is not good enough for a guy that's going to be your star a one piece out there on the wing but he does do a lot of stuff really well it was a tumultuous year for the Toronto Raptors in general so I'm not discouraged about the future about the potential of Scottie Barnes but he didn't take that superstar leap that I think a lot of people were hoping was going to be the case over the course of this year so that's a reality of what's going on with Scottie Barnes but the thing is if he plays at the level of assertiveness if he plays at the level of drive and heck the shooting touch that he showed whether it was these little turnaround floaters whether it was these you know of course three point shots that he was taking if he's playing like this going to next season you integrate Brandon Ingram into this lineup you have R.J. Barrett you have Immanuel Quickley actually playing a full season of basketball, Jakob Poeltl out there on the basketball court, the up-and-coming impending bench mob that is being constructed out here on this team, we have to see what happens the offseason, we have to see and sure you know Brandon Ingram's ankle injury gets healthy but this should be a playoff team next year this, there's no more tank, there's no more silliness that should be going on in the back half of these seasons. The Toronto Raptors are, from this day forward, all about wins, are all about getting Ws, all about doing things to win now at this point. I know it's year one of the rebuild, we're looking for young guys to develop, but Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, and Ben Cooley, it's not like all these guys are 18, 19, 20 years old. They are 23, 24, 25, getting paid big contracts. We just brought in Brandon Ingram, Jakob Poeltl, 30. Like, this is now the time. you know this, this previous season develop the young guys, like Jameson Batts, Jonathan Mobley, these six guys, mold them, build them, do this, do that, next year is win now mode, Scottie Barnes playing at this type of level, of course I don't expect an average 35 a game next season, but playing with this level of assertiveness aggression even on the defensive end he was out there and yeah I saw I saw people say, "Oh, why is he playing" so intense, you know he's dealing with injuries and he's out there you know hustling out there, I love seeing that from Scottie Barnes, you know everyone I understand what Darko Rajaković, what Masai Ujiri's doing, you know not pushing Ingram back to back half this year having guys rest we haven't seen that from Scottie Barnes and some people say oh it's stupid you're risking injury risk of that no we need our young guys to be out there on the basketball court developing playing hard getting these reps in and the one thing and regardless if you want to be cynical be like oh he's trying to get all NBA awards or all NBA nods that that's one way I've seen people talk about it, but realistically, I'm looking at Scottie Barnes as a competitor that's actually going out there on the court and playing hard, playing intense and playing that, and I'm just excited for that future outlook of the season. Of course, the three-point shooting needs to improve. Of course, there are a lot of things that do need to develop, but Scottie Barnes coming out and put it in 35-11-8, he deserves praise, deserves credit, and frankly, an NBA should be scared of that version of Scottie Barnes, so that's a huge positive there in tonight's game. Jameson Battle also in 42 minutes of action had seven threes it was really hot early in this game cooled off as the game did go along but had 25 points nine rebounds three assists and i like the aggression that he's playing with you have five personal fouls and stuff but nine boards you can tell he's trying to prove that he is more than just a three-point shooter and of course took 15 threes in tonight's game so that is one thing to you know look at but he's been doing better as of late taking people off the off the dribble making some drives and stuff but i don't know i i'm impressed with Jameson Battle i think he's a very solid three-point shooter even though the higher volume the percentages have gone down i i'm very encouraged by Jameson Battle this season i'm encouraged by Jonathan Mobley this season who of course the jump shooting would be nice to go in and would have had another triple double but I couldn't break the 10 point mark nine points for Po Sagon 14 rebounds four steals a guy that fills up the stat sheet man he fills up the stat sheet in very unorthodox ways you know the youngings they they're looking like uh like the Raptors got a nice batch even Jamal Shead who struggled with his jump shot in the past couple of games 11 points 9 assists 4 rebounds doing this thing out there on the basketball court of course the Raptors didn't have a bit too many turnovers to deal with fouls if I'm not too stressed about all this I'm looking at the individual development individual players seeing how people are coming out playing so you know Ochai Agbaji after his last big game 14 points four steals playing well on defense but lots of foul trouble from the Raptors in this game but other than that you know we got some Colin Castle too who clearly has a a better touch around the rim than Orlando Robinson had, but rebounding and stuff, it was a solid game. I'm not jumping to conclusions too much with Castleton, but we'll see if he ends up making the roster after this year, as of course he just signed a multi-year contract, but the second back half of that contract is not guaranteed, so nice to see him get a little bit of run, didn't foul out in this one, 29 minutes of action, but the Raptors were to still do a crisp as ----. We'll be talking a lot about crisp as ---- over the next few weeks, I'd imagine, but AJ Lawson as well, playing very solid for this team, and you We wanted to see him knock down a bit more three-point shots. The summer is going to be huge for him to, you know, increase those percentages as a three-point shooter. But plays with intensity, plays with a lot of defense grit. Was getting to the rim a ton. Had to shot seven free throws in this game, which is a nice positive for him. You know, 14 points overall. Good stuff out there from this Raptors team, despite the loss and messy end of the stretch. But, of course, the Toronto Raptors this season, we can kind of do a little official recap now in terms of everything that's going on. The Raptors finished with the 7th worst record in the NBA, so they have the 7th best odds to get the top pick. The NBA Draft Lottery is on May 12th, so about a month from recording. So, we'll all have our eyes peeled for that specific date, because the Raptors, their most likely draft pick will end up being the 8th overall selection. But there's a significant chance they jump into the top 4, there's a significant chance they're around 7. It's going to be tough for them to fall below 9, so we'll see. We'll see what ends up happening for this Raptors group, but make sure you guys stay tuned to Raptors Digest because there's going to be a lot of press conferences. There's going to be a lot of quotes. There's going to be a lot of stuff coming out over the next little while, especially as we approach May and June the draft free agency. So, hit that subscribe button to Raptors Digest. We'll be still delivering all the latest Raptors coverage. Anyways, rough season, but I'm excited for the future of this organization. But you guys are the best. I'm signing out. Cheers.