Scottie Barnes Discusses New Goggles & Eye Injury As Return Nears for Raptors

The Toronto Raptors have listed Scottie Barnes as questionable to play Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves

Oct 25, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) and Philadelphia 76ers guard Kyle Lowry (7) battle for position as they watch a free throw in the first half at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images / Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Scottie Barnes is ready to go.

It’s been three weeks since the Toronto Raptors All-Star suffered an orbital bone fracture in the final minutes of a loss to the Denver Nuggets late last month. Barnes was inadvertently elbowed in the right eye by Nikola Jokic and immediately fell to the ground clenching his face in pain.

For a few days, Barnes said the pain was intense, but unlike his fractured hand last season or the ankle injuries he’s suffered in years past, the 23-year-old has been able to stay in shape for the better part of the past few weeks.

“I'm not really worried about this one,” Barnes said following a full-contact practice on Wednesday. “I feel great. I'm able to see great. It's not something that I'm really worried about that much.”

Standing on the left side of Barnes, you wouldn’t even notice the injury. It’s only when he turns his head to reveal the broken blood vessels in his right eye that the extent of the damage is clear. It’s a gory sight, but nothing Barnes is too worried about.

Toronto has officially listed Barnes as questionable to play Thursday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He’s been trying out different eyewear over the past little while and was seen getting up practice shots with a black mask on earlier this week. On Wednesday, Barnes seemed to have settled on a pair of goggles he’s still getting used to.

“Sometimes when the ball is coming at you, it looks closer than what it is. it just takes time adjustment,” Barnes said of the goggles he’ll wear when he does return. “You just got to used to 'em.”

On the court there’s going to be some adjustments too.

RJ Barrett, Jakob Poeltl, and Gradey Dick have all seen their usage rates jump considerably with Barnes and Immanuel Quickley sidelined. They’ve done an admirable job of keeping Toronto’s 18th-ranked offense afloat without its two best offensive creators.

When Barnes returns, that’ll change.

“I think it honestly it puts guys more in a place of where they can be and feel comfortable,” Garrett Temple said. “It's going to give Gradey more open shots. He's going to give RJ more open lanes. Guys are going to be more attuned to Scott than they were to anybody else who was in that position. So I think it's going to give them, honestly, more freedom when they do have the ball.”

That’s what the Raptors are hoping for.

Barrett, Dick, and Poeltl have all excelled in their roles lately and Barnes’ return should ease the load on the three and create more efficient looks for everyone.

“If one team decides on a certain night to put more emphasis on Scottie, that should open up more room for RJ, and vice versa, and that should help Gradey with his spacing,” Raptors coach Darko Rajaković said.

If there’s been a silver lining to the past few weeks without Barnes and so many other key rotation players, it’s the fact that Toronto has gotten to see what its depth pieces have had to offer. There have been more opportunities to see Jamal Shead, Jamison Battle, and Jonathan Mogbo get extended looks. While it hasn’t led to much success in terms of Toronto’s record, the extra opportunities have shown exactly what this Raptors core is made of.

“We're some fighters. We've got some dogs on our team,” Barnes said of the group. “These guys, they're working their ass off every single day. I'm just ready to get back in there whenever that time is and just work my ass off with 'em, try to get wins.”