Raptors Get More Bad News on Scottie Barnes

 Here we go again. The Toronto Raptors will be forced to be without their franchise player for another extended period, as the team has announced that Scottie Barnes' ankle injury suffered in their Monday game against the New York Knicks will keep him out for "several" weeks. 

Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes is expected to miss several weeks with a right ankle injury suffered on Monday, sources tell ESPN. Barnes is averaging career highs of 20.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists this season. pic.twitter.com/J9IlbKNPcX

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 11, 2024

The right ankle injury takes another significant chunk out of Barnes' season, after he already missed 11 games earlier after a hit in the eye. 

Barnes is averaging career highs of 20.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.4 assists this season. The team went 2-9 with Scottie out of the lineup earlier, and had been 4-6 since he returned. 

It’s a real bummer that Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley have played in a single game together this season, and won’t be playing in any more together anytime soon. It could work out as far as lotto positioning goes, but would’ve been a lot more fun to see it much more often.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) December 11, 2024

As noted by Tim Bontemps, the two faces of the future for the Raptors, Barnes and Immanuel Quickley have not played in a single game together this season. IQ is still out with an elbow ligament issue, and now Barnes is gone again for weeks. 

Yes, Toronto's lottery stock just got a boost, but it will be a long slog this season as the team is forced to play without two of their stars. 

The Raptors are currently 7-18, with the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference.