Report: Barnes to sign five-year max rookie extension with Raptors
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Scottie Barnes is set to sign a five-year max rookie extension with the Toronto Raptors, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
The deal will be worth up to $270 million and make Barnes the highest-paid player in franchise history. It will not be made official until the league moratorium is lifted on July 6 and Barnes will play out the 2024-25 season on his rookie contract, meaning his new five-year deal won't kick in until 2025-26 and will run through 2029-30.
As TSN's Josh Lewenberg notes, Barnes' extension was only a matter of time. He was crowned the face of the franchise following the trade of Pascal Siakam to the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 17.
Barnes took a major step forward in 2023-24, making the All-Star Team for the first time while averaging 19.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. All three stat categories were career-highs. He also upped his efficiency on the offensive end, shooting a career-best .341 from three-point land and .781 from the free throw line in addition to .475 from the field.
The West Palm Beach, Fla., native appeared in 60 games before a broken hand ended his season prematurely on March 1. The Raptors struggled down the stretch of the season without Barnes, winning just three more games the rest of the season en route to a 25-57 finish, their worst season since going 22-60 in 2010-11.
Selected No. 4 overall out of Florida State in the 2021 NBA Draft, Barnes won the Rookie of the Year Award in his first NBA season.