Barnes happy to head north

No. 4 pick brings upbeat energy to team, to go with on-court skills

Scottie Barnes grew up “kinda hard” in West Palm Beach, Fla.; his family didn’t have an awful lot.

But he also grew up happy and inquisitive and athletically gifted and now can be a beacon, perhaps, for kids in the same circumstances in his Central Florida home area.

“You didn’t really have super much, you wasn’t really able to get the recognition,” Barnes, the Raptors’ top pick in the NBA draft, said Friday morning. “But I would say it was a good place for me because it just helped me stay humble, just be a happy guy. A lot of people from there, we’re just happy.

“I don’t know, it’s a different feeling. Small town, where I’m from … It’s a hard place to get out of, but I did it.”

He did indeed, with his prodigious basketball skills and a somewhat infectious personality leading to Toronto taking him fourth overall Thursday. What lies ahead athletically is a great unknown — Barnes has to navigate the intricacies of the NBA game and that’s no easy feat for anyone — but he does seem to have a personality that will allow him to thrive.

He’s open and engaging and doesn’t seem to have a gloomy gene in his DNA.

“He’s authentic as everybody sees,” Raptors general manager Bobby Webster said. “He wears his kind of heart on his sleeve, so I think that’s good.”

The Raptors need players with exquisite skills but they also need to have some kind of good idea of what a youngster who turns 20 on Sunday will become as he grows into being a man. They work out players to every imaginable length on the court and sit for hours talking to them, digging deep into their backgrounds. They need to be as comfortable with the person

as they are with the player.

Being able to have players in Tampa for interviews and workouts during this draft period was integral to Toronto’s selection process. They couldn’t do it in 2020 because of the pandemic. They relished the

opportunity this time around.

“I think one of the big things … is (Barnes) kind of has a magnetic personality,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “He kind of has a high-energy type of personality even when he’s just sitting around talking.

“The subjects go around pretty quickly and pretty fast and furiously because he is a great communicator and he does have a passion for being Scottie, being Scottie Barnes.

“He has a passion for that and he has a passion for playing winning basketball. He talks about that a lot. I think he has an unselfish nature and loves to pass, things like that. Interesting. Interesting person.”

Barnes described himself as a “pretty boring person” content to “just chill and relax” when he’s not playing basketball or video games. Oh, he might stray a bit outside the cocoon — “Sometimes I minigolf,” he said — but, other than that, he lives a happy life.

“I’m always happy, I’m always energetic, I’m a loving person, I’m caring,” he said. “I like to talk about a lot of different things. I love basketball to death but I know how to conversate with people. I like to get to know people. I’m very open to that.”

Where Barnes fits as a player is still to be determined but he will be asked to play some kind of role right away. He seems to be a prototypical Raptors prospect, a multi-dimensional player fit for the positionless game Toronto wants to play. He said he’s comfortable as a point guard or a power forward, which will be music to Nurse’s ears.

He’ll have his ups and downs because every rookie does, fluctuating from “holy cow” moments to “what was that?” plays. Barnes seems to have the personality that will allow him to work through tough stretches.

“I’ll be able to sell my abilities in what I’m able to do,” he said. “I trust the Raptors organization and what they have in place for me. I know that they’ll be able to put me into positions where I can excel and work and see my talent.”