The Toronto Raptors have gotten value out of Scottie Barnes on and off the court since drafting him No. 4 overall in 2021. The 24-year-old earned his second All-Star nod this year and is shooting a career-high 50.4 percent from the field, but veteran guard Garrett Temple spoke about how he impacts the game outside of the stat sheet, via Sportsnet's Michael Grange.

“He brings us together, and it's not just rah, rah stuff,” he said. “Scottie’s taken the onus of using that time to speak up and make sure everybody knows exactly what our game plan is. He talks about stuff, maybe, that even the coaches haven't brought up, and everything is very specific. It's not a general, ‘come on, guys, let's win.' It's very specific for whatever we need to do to win the game we’re playing.”

Barnes' leadership is working, as Toronto is having its best season since the 2021-22 campaign. The team is fifth in the Eastern Conference at 32-23 after two straight losing seasons, and they're just two games behind the fourth-place Cleveland Cavaliers.

Of course, Barnes isn't the only reason why the Raptors are winning. The acquisition of veteran forward Scottie Barnes, who made the All-Star team as an injury replacement this year, has changed the dynamic.

Having two star players is a good way to build a competitive basketball team, and that's Toronto's reality right now. Barnes is averaging 19.3 points on the aforementioned 50.4 percent shooting (30.1 percent 3-point) with 8.4 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals over 34.4 minutes, while Ingram is averaging 21.8 points on 47.4 percent shooting (36.5 percent 3-point) with 5.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists over 34 minutes. 

Barnes is the homegrown talent, while the Raptors acquired Ingram from the New Orleans Pelicans at last season's trade deadline. That model of building through the draft before making major trades or signings has worked for many professional sports teams, and Toronto needed to do it after losing Kawhi Leonard in 2019.

For example, the Raptors drafted Jakob Poeltl and Pascal Siakam in 2016 as well as OG Anunoby in 2017 before trading for Leonard ahead of the 2018-19 season. Those players developed into key contributors before Leonard arrived, which is largely why that squad won it all.

Leonard then signed with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Toronto eventually traded Siakam and Anunoby, as well as other players like Norman Powell. Those deals helped it build a supporting cast around Barnes before getting Ingram, and now it's having its best season since the start of the rebuild.

The next step is to become a championship contender, but making noise in the playoffs this year will be a good start.