Raptors enter off-season with hope after year filled with trades, injuries, tragedy

This was supposed to be Scottie Barnes's season.

Toronto made a series of trades through December and January that effectively made Barnes the face of the franchise and he was named to his first-ever NBA all-star game in February. The retooled Raptors started to click with Barnes at the centre of head coach Darko Rajakovic's schemes, putting together a modest three-game win streak that put them within range of a play-in berth.

But then he had season-ending surgery to repair a broken hand on March 4 and a cascade of injuries to his teammates followed. Canadian swingman RJ Barrett and point guard Immanuel Quickley missed time to grieve the deaths of family members and the NBA launched an investigation into irregular betting patterns surrounding backup centre Jontay Porter.

All that misfortune put Toronto into a 15-game tailspin, the second-longest losing skid in franchise history, and the Raptors finished 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 25-57 record.

"I wasn't really frustrated, it was a freak accident and God's got a plan for me," said Barnes, a scar visible on his hand. "But the last month I've been hurt, these last 20 games or so, that has been frustrating, watching us lose and not being able to be out on the floor with the guys and try to help us win.

"But I don't take it for granted. It's still a blessing. I view it as just being able to grow as a leader."

That positive re-framing was a theme on Monday as the Raptors held season-ending news conferences after cleaning out their lockers and having exit interviews with Rajakovic and Toronto's front-office staff. Barnes said that although his shooting improved — he averaged 19.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists on 47.5 per cent field-goal shooting over 60 games