Scottie Barnes is growing in all directions at once

At first, when you were watching Scottie Barnes in the earliest stages of his NBA career, you could almost see his growth from moment to moment. His game was developing in all directions at once, and every few games — if not every few plays — he would do something new that he hadn’t done before. Going into the NBA, Scottie was supposed to be a little more of a project, but it became apparent early on that he was a plus player from Day 1. Right away, we found out about the many things that he could do, and at times it felt like Scottie was discovering those things along with us. Every time he pulls in a rebound and runs the ball in transition to hit the cutter with a no-look dime, you can feel him thinking, Oh, I can do this, too?

SCOTTIE'S IN HIS BAG pic.twitter.com/bZOZt1gx2c

There’s joy, wonder and amazement in his game. Scottie is a 6’9 tabula rasa with the athleticism to make all kinds of plays as well as the IQ to make the right one. The combination of these traits, as well as the sense that we’re just scratching the surface of each, is what makes him feel so special. In a recent overtime game against the Chicago Bulls, Scottie put his shoulder into Nikola Vucevic — one of the league’s preeminent strongmen — and forced his way into a score at the rim. Throughout the season, he’s also done this to Jonas Valanciunas, Domantas Sabonis and other traditional power bigs. There’s a point of disbelief for everyone, where you’ve seen enough to realize just how comprehensive his game is and how far the rabbit hole goes. A 20-year-old, bullying the brutes? That one was mine.

Scottie is averaging 14.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists in his rookie season. He guards one through five and plays hyperactive defense off the