Scottie Barnes’ popularity, like his play of late with the Raptors, is rising in Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY—There can be no doubting where Scottie Barnes fits in the hype machine of the NBA and those who cover the game from a casual angle.

There’s a much-larger-than-life picture of the young Raptors star wrapped around a pillar in the cavernous baggage hall of the Salt Lake City airport this all-star weekend.

One questioner in the media that flocked him to during an obligatory availability session Frirday wanted to know how great young stars like him and Ja Morant and Zion Williamson are going to handle being “passed the rock” as the next wave of NBA icon.

And a representative of the international media who knows Barnes went to prep school with some Brazilian friends cajoled some rudimentary Portuguese out of the Florida native as a way to connect with another continent of fans.

Barnes is popular, and he seems to revel in it.

“It’s amazing to be around the environment, the atmosphere, you’ve got the players everywhere,” Barnes said before taking part in the Rising Stars tournament that kicked off all-star weekend. “I feel like I’m a person that likes communication, so being around these people I’ve been knowing for a little while is great. It’s all love.”

Barnes’s play of late has taken off but the first half of the season was uninspiring, to the point where Raptors coach Nick Nurse lamented his lack of intensity early in most games. Teammates wanted more from him more often, too, and it looked for stretches that the league had figured out last season’s rookie of the year and he wasn’t determined enough to work through it.

“I don’t know how hard they’re playing me but I want to say it’s not harder (than last season). I feel like I’m still playing my game,” he told the Star on Friday, once his pre-game obligations were fulfilled. “It’s a simple game … it just depends on the way it goes; sometimes it’s your game, sometimes it’s not.

“Of course you want to be better each and every single game and you want to try to get more comfortable in that role, but (you) just take it one game at a time.”

If the Raptors are to make any noise in the final quarter of the regular season, Barnes is going to have to be central to it. His raw statistics this season basically mirror his rookie season — 15.6 points per game this season compared to 15.3 in 2021-22; 7.1 rebounds rather than 7.5; a 45.7 field-goal percentage, similar to last season’s 49.2. But the expectation, both from Barnes and from the organization, was that he would show an across-the-board uptick.

“I feel like it’s just a constant development, trying to get better, keep trying to working,” Barnes said. “I know where I’m able to score at, I feel that’s one of my main things, being able to go each and every night and be able to know where I can score at and insert that into the game.”

The seriousness of the regular season will occupy the minds and bodies of players next week. For now, getting a nice break to relax among friends is welcome.

For Barnes and the 20 other first- and second-year NBAers and seven G Leaguers who took part in Friday’s Rising Stars competition, showing off in a lightly-contested exhibition was welcome.

“I feel like I’m a high-energy guy that can do a lot of different things. I’ve very versatile as well,” Barnes said. “Keep expanding my game to be able to score in many different areas, guard one through five, be able to switch … playing those different positions, that’s the next wave of basketball.”

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