The National Basketball Association announced the All-Defensive teams on Friday, with Toronto Raptors star forward Scottie Barnes named to the second team.
The top two teams are chosen based on a voting system, where sportswriters and broadcasters vote on their first- and second-team All-Defensive players. Barnes finished sixth in voting (130 points), just 16 shy of Boston Celtics guard Derrick White.
A global media panel of 100 voters selected the 2025-26 Kia NBA All-Defensive Team.
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 22, 2026
The complete voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/nzi2CGhq3T
The 24-year-old Barnes was strong on the defensive side throughout the season, finishing with career highs in blocks (1.5) and steals (1.4) per game. His combined 2.87 steals and blocks per game ranked third in the NBA, behind San Antonio Spurs centre Victor Wembanyama (4.18) and Detroit Pistons forward Ausar Thompson (3.08). Both Wembanyama and Thompson were named to the first All-Defensive team.
This is Barnes’ first spot on the NBA’s All-Defensive team in his fifth season in the league. It marks yet another honour for the former fourth-overall draft pick after a career year in 2025-26, as he was named an All-Star for the second time in his career and finished fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic repeatedly championed his star forward to the media throughout the year. He told reporters that Barnes is a future MVP of the league, and also said that Barnes was the defensive player of the year this season - so he may be a little disappointed at the second team placing this year.
“Scottie is defensive player of the year. He’s an all-star. He’s going to be a Finals MVP. He’s going to be an MVP one day,” said Rajakovic in February. “Write down the date I said that.”
The first All-defensive team this season was comprised of Wembanyama, Thompson, White, Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The second team was made up of Barnes, the Thunder’s Cason Wallace, Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, the Knicks’ OG Anunoby and Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks.
Barnes is the third player in Raptors history to be named to an All-Defensive team, joining Kawhi Leonard (2019) and Anunoby (2023). No Raptors player has ever been named first-team All-Defensive.
