Nuggets Coach Shares High Praise for Raptors' Scottie Barnes

Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes caught the attention of Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone after a stellar game against Nikola Jokic and company

It’s hard to impress Michael Malone these days.

The Denver Nuggets head coach couldn’t even come up with an answer when a reporter asked him what the most memorable play from Nikola Jokic was in Wednesday’s 113-104 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

“Nothing really stands out,” Malone responded. “I don’t have one that was kind of eye-popping.”

This was after a game in which Jokic threw a pass off the backboard that ricocheted right to Aaron Gordon who found Michael Porter Jr. for a corner three.

I think Jokic just invented a new pass pic.twitter.com/B1K3T4FnJ4

— Esfandiar Baraheni (@JustEsBaraheni) December 21, 2023

No big deal.

And yet, there was one player who stood out to Malone.

“Scottie Barnes is a hell of a player,” Malone told reporters post-game. “He was just putting his head down. Putting a lot of pressure on our defense in transition, make, miss, turnover.”

Barnes is a long way from being a two-time MVP but in moments, that Jokic-like specialness is there. The two have a rare combination of size and passing ability that allows them to see over the defense and throw the kind of passes few other players in the league would even attempt.

In the middle of the third quarter Wednesday, for example, Barnes did his best impression of Jokic, corralling a rebound under the basket before taking two dribbles up the court and firing a left-handed dart the length of the court to find Pascal Siakam under the hoop or an easy layup.

“Scottie Barnes is a player that can impact the game in so many ways,” Malone told reporters pre-game. “Like a point forward for them at times. (He) leads the break, gets into the paint, play makes at a high level, rebounds at a high level.”

Barnes wouldn’t bite on the comparisons to Jokic when asked about it post-game.

Jokic’s extra four inches of height and nearly 50 pounds of weight make him a more imposing force on the court and the kind of player who, Barnes said, uses his body really well to get to his spots. Barnes is more of a big forward who relies on his rare speed for his size to beat defenders and create advantages.

But listening to Barnes talk about Jokic’s game it’s hard not to see the similarities.

“He just draws so much attention where they’ve got shooters everywhere,” Barnes said of Jokic. “He’s either spreading it out to shooters or he’s got a low dunker man, or he can just take it all the way to the basket.”

It’s that combination of otherworldly skill, passing ability, and the roster around Jokic that makes him such a force. Barnes isn’t there yet, but it’s clear there’s a specialness in Toronto’s young forward that needs to be further supported. If Malone sees it in Barnes, the Raptors should too.