Raptors’ Scottie Barnes is the point in Toronto — in more ways than one

BOSTON — Scottie Barnes is feeling it.

Just beyond centre court at the gym at Emerson College in downtown Boston, the Toronto Raptors star is grooving. As music pumps, he sways side to side, his shoulders leading his hips in slow motion. After each 3-pointer he takes in a post-practice shooting group with teammates OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa, he repeats the action.

He’s feeling good, and why shouldn’t he? In his third season, Barnes is playing the best basketball of his career, at a level that will at least put him in the conversation to make the All-Star Game. The Raptors, at 12-18, aren’t winning as much as anybody involved would like, but the last person you can pin that on is Barnes. Now, more than ever, it is clear this whole enterprise is about Barnes. With coach Darko Rajaković moving the only experienced point guard on the roster, Dennis Schröder, out of the starting lineup and replacing him with shooter Gary Trent Jr., Barnes is as close to a point guard as the Raptors will have to start games.

Both Barnes and his coach were quick to downplay the move Thursday. Barnes said nothing meaningfully changes for him, as he has already operated in bench-heavy lineups as the primary playmaker. Rajaković added that Barnes isn’t suddenly the full-time point guard, and this is just part of seeing how the roster looks when organized differently. Regardless, the move allows Barnes to be the version of the player he longs to be — or, to be the player he longs to be more often.

“I feel that’s most of what I look for,” Barnes told The Athletic on Thursday. “I’ve always been a team guy where I’m always looking for people. I feel like that’s my main skill set, being able to read the floor and (let) them make those baskets.”

“I think the main reason for doing this is to speed up his development,” Rajaković said. “When a player is really on the ball a lot, he is just forced to make all of those decisions: how to handle the pressure and how to handle different pick-and-roll coverages, how to set up his teammates. I believe that he has those talents in him.”

Somewhat humourously, Barnes’ eight assists in Wednesday’s win in Washington were third most on the team, behind Pascal Siakam’s 11 and Schröder’s 10 off the bench. The Raptors have had a relatively egalitarian offence up until this point, and that isn’t going to change significantly with the lineup switch. Barnes isn’t suddenly going to be running spread pick-and-rolls 40 times a game.

Still, it is hard to see the move as anything but an inevitable step in an obvious direction: With a more traditional lineup failing to produce a satisfactory offence or record, and Siakam and Anunoby both heading for free agency in the summer and potential trades ahead of the Feb. 8 deadline, Barnes has to go from a focus to the focus of how the Raptors function.

“Still playing free,” Barnes said of his role in the new lineup. “I’m more of a…