Despite the Toronto Raptors' underwhelming start in the win column, star forward Scottie Barnes is taking another step in his offensive evolution by adding a new dimension to his scoring game. Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes recently identified Barnes as a potential first-time All-NBA selection, and his increase ability to attack the basket and generate opportunities at the free-throw line explains why.

For a player who has struggles to find consistency from the perimeter, that development gives Barnes another avenue to produce offense and makes scoring profile even more difficult to defend.

Scottie Barnes Is Embracing His Increased Offensive Responsibility

With Kawhi Leonard currently sidelined by a knee injury, Barnes has quickly become a much more prominent scoring option for Toronto this season compared to years past. The increased workload has translated into a noticeable jump in production. In the eight games before going down with a groin injury, Barnes on the season is averaging a career-high 23.5 points per game. A significant jump from his 18.1 last season despite playing nearly the same amount of minutes per game (33.3).

His field-goal attempts have increased from 14.0 to 19.8 per game, reflecting how frequently Toronto is looking to get him involved offensively. However the most encouraging development has been his ability to generate additional scoring opportunities at the free-throw line.

Barnes has nearly doubled his free-throw attempts from 3.7 per game last season to 6.3 this year. His production has also climbed from 4.0 to 6.8 per 36, demonstrating that improvement is not simply a byproduct of getting more touches but more so how much more effective he has been at maximizing those touches and his increased driving activity is the key.

According to NBA.com, Barnes is averaging 14.8 drives per game this season, a slight jump from his 12 per game last year. This change in all likelihood stems from his struggles from beyond the arc where he is shooting just 15.4 per cent. His ability to finish around the rim and manufacture points at the charity stripe is helping him get a few easy points to make up for the ones he leaves on the tablen when settling for three-pointers.

Barnes Is Already Joining Some Established All-NBA Forwards

Barnes' increased foul-drawing ability becomes even more interesting when compared to several established forwards who are regularly in All-NBA conversations.

Barnes' 6.3 free-throw attempts per game ranks 9th amongst forwards that have played at least eight games this season. This is just slightly behind players like Kevin Durant (8.0) and Julius Randle (7.2). It's also notably ahead of players like Anthony Davis (5.8), Bam Adebayo (5.2) and former Raptor Pascal Siakam (5.2). The comparison illustrates how Barnes' increased role paired with an uptick in his aggression getting to the rim may be starting to land him the illustrious "superstar whistle."

In today's league where manufacturing free throw chances with savvy moves and finesse contact-drawing, it's hard nowadays to get a consistent call when leaning strictly on physicality. The superstar whistle can be a bit of an equalizer in that way hence why a players like Giannis Antetokounmpo (9.0) is still amongst the leaders in free throw attempts.

There is still room for improvement, particularly when it comes to converting at the line. Barnes is shooting 68 per cent from the free-throw line this season after making 81.5 per cent of his attempts last year. Pairing his increased frequency with the success rate he had last season may even elevate him into a near-30-point per game scorer by season's end. Barnes has always been star caliber two-way player, but this new growth in his offensive game may just turn him into the All-NBA player the Raptors believe he can be.