Fred VanVleet speaks on sky-high potential of Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes

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Raptors' Scottie Barnes and Fred VanVleet

Toronto Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes continues to impress.

In the team's victory over the New York Knicks on Friday, Barnes had one of his best all-around performances of the season to the tune of 12 points, a career-high 15 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. As StatMuse pointed out, Barnes is only the second Raptors rookie to ever post a 10/15/2/2/2 game.

The other? Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady.

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Following the game, Raptors guard Fred VanVleet had a lot of positive things to say when he was asked about Barnes.

"I'm hard on him. He's going to be a really good player in this league. He has a really, really high ceiling," VanVleet said. "He's definitely one of my more challenging projects that I've had, but he makes some plays sometimes that, you know, you can see the vision and the feel and some stuff that is hard to teach. He had a lot of big plays tonight.

"There's really nothing he can't do out there on the court. It's just about him finding that, you know, into winning basketball because he has a huge role on this team, obviously."

When asked about what makes Barnes a "challenging project," VanVleet explained that young players must go through a "growing process" and can often struggle with mental lapses.

"But again, he's in a primary role on this team, and it's harder for somebody like me who come in how I came in and then was a part of really good teams to be a part of that process where you just kinda gotta keep clapping and tell him good job when you know he's out there," VanVleet said.

"I'm on his butt about being great, and he's been steadily improving all year, so I think that he's going to be huge for us going forward."

MORE: Can Barnes be the next Giannis?

Barnes is now averaging 15.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per game on the season. Among rookies, he ranks second in scoring, first in rebounding, fifth in assists, third in steals and second in blocks. Additionally, his four double-doubles have him tied with Cade Cunningham for second-most among rookies.

Through the quarter mark of the season, our NBA Global staff had Barnes as the front-runner for Rookie of the Year, holding a slight edge over Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley.

He's only 24 games into his career, but Barnes has quickly proven himself to be a tremendous talent.

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Scott Rafferty is a Senior NBA Editor for The Sporting News