Toronto Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes earned high praise from Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers ahead of their first-round matchup in the NBA playoffs.
Barnes is among those players in contention to win Rookie of the Year after a strong campaign. He averaged 15.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.1 steals in 74 games, and finished off the season by winning Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for March and April.
Rivers was impressed by watching Barnes during the pre-draft process.
“Because of the Ben (Simmons) thing last year, we did watch a lot of film (on him),” said Rivers, via Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire. “Scottie Barnes was one of them and he was good on film, but he’s way better, unfortunately, in person. He’s a good player. If you saw Scottie Barnes and didn’t know he was a rookie, you would swear he’s been in the league for 10 years.”
The fourth pick ranked inside the top five among all first-year players in scoring (third), rebounds (third) and steals (fifth), and was sixth in assists. He has played an integral role as a starter and impressed to help Toronto (48-34) claim the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Barnes has certainly earned plenty of attention this season and will be a key focus of the Sixers as the two teams meet for Game 1 on Saturday in Philadelphia. Teams often don’t have to gameplan much for rookies but Barnes has proven to be anything but a typical first-year player.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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