There is no question that RJ Barrett is maturing.
The kid who was a fixture on the Canadian basketball scene since he was a teenager is in his eighth NBA season, working towards his third contract. He’s 26, a father and has seen some things.
But there was the slightest bit of pushback when it was relayed to him that Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic had said he was “maturing into a winning player.”
It was meant to be high praise from a coach who places a high value on things like smart decision-making, selflessness, versatility and the willingness to step up when things get difficult.
“RJ is one of those guys who, in tough moments, he’s not shying away from taking responsibility,” said Rajakovic on Thursday as the Raptors were preparing to host the Orlando Magic for the second consecutive game at Scotiabank Arena on Friday to start NBA Cup play.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean he wants the ball in his hands; that doesn’t mean he demands any attention …. I really think that RJ is maturing into a winning player and will do whatever it takes to help the team win.”
Barrett’s only counterpoint?
“I’ve always been winning, my whole life, man,” said Barrett, who won national high school championships at Montverde Academy, a u19 World Championship with Canada, led Duke to the NCAA tournament, helped Canada to a Bronze medal at the World Championships in 2023 and appeared in the playoffs twice with the Knicks and again with the Raptors last season. “I’ve been in winning situations. So I think now, here with this team, I’m continuing to learn and grow and get better on both ends of the floor. I’m continuing to grow as a player.”
Barrett was essential as the Raptors shook off a miserable outing against Minnesota on Sunday and bounced back with a blowout win over the Magic on Wednesday as the Raptors adjust to life without Kawhi Leonard for the next few weeks as he gets the swelling in his left knee under control.
The arrival of Leonard had some wondering what that would mean for Barrett’s role. Turns out it’s been more of the same, and then some.
Last season it was the arrival of Brandon Ingram as the primary option that was supposed to eat into Barrett’s offensive production.
By season’s end, Barrett – who led the Raptors in scoring the year before – put up 19.3 points per game, just behind Ingram’s team-leading 21.3 and did it with a career-best effective field goal percentage (reflecting the value of two- and three-point field goals) of 55.0. He then led the Raptors in scoring in the playoffs (along with Scottie Barnes) at 24.1 points per game.
So far this season, with Leonard hardly up to speed in the first two games and now unavailable for the next three weeks or more, Barrett has taken on a bigger load again.
Four games don’t make a season, but if Barrett can maintain something in the range of his team-leading 22 points a game he has so far, he’d be looking at another career high.
It’s a number that could be even better if his three-point accuracy normalizes around his career average of 34.4 per cent (Barrett is at 22.2 per cent right now) and he can bump his free-throw shooting up above 70 per cent from 63.6 per cent.
Barrett has always been able to find ways to score, even when his shooting comes and goes. He’s excellent at reading the floor and finding seams and holes to present himself to his teammates.
And he’s a beneficiary of the Raptors’ high-pressure approach on defence that has them leading the NBA with 14.3 steals and 23.5 opponent turnovers a game, a big reason the Raptors are leading the NBA in fast break scoring.
“Easy buckets, man, free buckets,” said Barrett, who is fifth in the NBA in fast break scoring with 5.3 points per game. “The object of the game is to score more points than the other team, so if we can get some turnovers and get out in transition and get some easy buckets, it opens up the whole game for us.”
1. Here in spirit: Leonard wasn’t in the lineup Wednesday and was noticeably absent from the Raptors’ bench Wednesday as well. According to Rajakovic, Leonard is getting treatment for his knee “outside Toronto.” Also not on the bench against the Magic was Raptors vice-president of player health and performance, Alex McKechnie, so a reasonable deduction is that Leonard and McKechnie were together somewhere consulting on Leonard’s treatment plan. A routine the pair developed as the 2018-19 season went on, and McKechnie became a trusted resource for Leonard as he returned to health after missing all but nine games with problems with his left quadriceps tendon in his last season with San Antonio in 2017-18. The current plan calls for Leonard to rest and undergo treatments this week and ideally return to basketball starting next week, targeting a return the week after that. “Right now he’s going to do the treatments, he’s reacting well to the treatments and in seven days we’ll have a much better feel for what it looks like,” said Rajakovic.
2. It doesn’t show up in the box score: Rajakovic took the time to plead the case on behalf of starting centre Jakob Poeltl, who is averaging just 2.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 19.5 minutes a game so far this season. “Jak is our starter. We’re the No.1 defence in the league, and Jak has a lot to do with that,” Rajakovic said. “He does so many things on the defensive end that help us tremendously, and a lot of those things, they will not show up in the box score: the way he is presenting himself in the paint, the way he is controlling screens and the way he rotates and helps our guys … I think his (offensive rhythm) is going to come.”
3. Game changer: The Raptors were down by as much as 10 in the first quarter against Orlando and by six when they huddled during a timeout and pledged to turn up the intensity. Leading the charge was Jamal Shead. “Jamal came out like a madman after that, so that was great,” said Barrett. “Shead finished with season highs of 13 points and seven assists, noting afterwards that he needs to be more aggressive offensively or teams will simply help off him, making it difficult for his teammates. Barrett agrees: “He’s a great passer; that’s how he affects the game a lot for us. But at the same time, when you’re open, you have to shoot it, and we trust him. He works on his game; he has that ability to score.”