MONTREAL — The early days of the RJ Barrett homecoming story have been almost without blemish.
The kid from Mississauga, who is the scion of Canadian basketball royalty, has only ever shown love for the opportunity he’s had to play for his hometown Toronto Raptors, and the feeling has been mutual.
Even standing before a line of cameras with a bushel of microphones in front of him hasn’t quite gotten old yet. Give it time, I’d say, but so far Barrett has embraced being one of the most visible members of the Raptors since joining the team via trade midway through last season.
“I love it. It’s fun. This right here, it’s crazy to me to even be in this interview,” he said as the Raptors put the finishing touches on the second day of training at the University of Quebec at Montreal. Barrett felt so engaged he did half of his interviews in French, which he picked up while his father and fellow Canadian Olympian Rowan Barrett Sr. was playing professionally in France. “I used to watch this (Raptors media scrums) on TV. It’s just fun man, I love it. I think I have a little bit more pride for it. So I think I’m going out there, just give my whole heart to this, give everything.”
He certainly did his part after arriving from the Knicks last season. Even though he acknowledged that the transition was so quick that he barely had time to learn head coach Darko Rajakovic’s playbook or completely mesh with a revolving door of teammates, Barrett played some of the best basketball of his career with the Raptors.
He averaged 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 32 starts in Toronto, while shooting 55.3 per cent from the floor overall and 39.2 per cent from three.
It was a remarkable performance, not only because it was so much better than Barrett had managed before in his career — he averaged just 18.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists on 42.3/33.1 shooting splits in his 26 games with the Knicks prior to the trade, for example — but because extrapolated over an entire season, it would put Barrett among the most productive and efficient players in the league.
Only 10 players averaged at least 21/6/4 last season with 50 or more games played, and they included the likes of Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Jayson Tatum. Factor in Barrett’s efficiency — his effective field goal percentage as a Raptor was 60.1, compared with his career average of 48.8 — and the list grows even more exclusive, as only Jokic and Antetokounmpo, with five MVP awards between them, had higher eFG numbers.
It was a remarkable homecoming, even if Toronto was just 12-20 with Barrett in the lineup.
But with a full off-season as a Raptor under his belt and a full training camp and exhibition season to come, the expectations are for Barrett to continue to improve as he heads into his sixth NBA season.
Even coming close to matching his offensive production would be nice, but the message internally and externally is that Barrett needs to be a significantly improved defender.
That he’s not considered a plus defender — and the fact that Barrett has averaged barely one steal and block combined over the course of his career is a crude metric for his lack of activity — says more about his level of off-ball engagement than his ability.
As a solidly built six-foot-seven wing with good length, he profiles as someone who should be formidable on and off the ball, but he’s too often not, particularly when he’s not defending at the point of attack.
As one example, per BBall Index, Barrett ranked in the 10th (lowest) percentile in ball-screen navigation, 20th percentile in passing lane defence and 40th percentile as a chaser around and over screens when off the ball.
Improving that awareness and effort has been a focus of the Raptors’ messaging this past off-season.
“I think RJ’s defensive effort and importance on defence this year has to rise just because of the needs of our team and our desire to improve our defence,” said Rajakovic. “… I think he understands what it takes to win. And for me, that’s very important. For any team in this league, any coach in this league, everybody wants two-way players. And he understands the importance of that. He understands the stakes for us in our team. We talk a lot. I’m calling him out in a lot of situations that he needs to be better. He’s responded really well. It’s great to see him when he gets a stop or does good stuff defensively that he’s celebrating, and he feels energy. That’s winning. That’s about winning. So we need him to fall in love with defence, be as good of a player as he is offensively.”
For Barrett, it’s a mindset rather than a lack of ability or interest and part of the maturation process for a lifelong bucket-getter who is still just 24 years old, even if he does have five seasons and 329 games under his belt.
“If you want to win, it starts with defence. And I’ve been practising it, working on it, especially during the summertime,” he said. “That was huge for me to just get reps defensively, and now just keep working on it. Every day, you know, coaching, drills, playing, keep that mindset of defending and keep going that way. I could also get, if I’m playing defence, I can get on other guys to play defence too.”
For Barrett, there are plenty of incentives. He’s only one season away from being eligible for an extension on the four-year, $107-million deal he signed when he was with the Knicks. Otherwise, he’ll be a free agent when he’s 27, following the 2026-27 season. With the upward trajectory of the NBA salary cap, Barrett’s next deal could secure an extraordinary payday if he can come close to replicating his offensive performance since joining the Raptors and even more if can do it while playing effectively on both ends.
Perhaps more importantly, Barrett’s continued development would have a significant impact on the Raptors’ overall fortunes, and his overall experience playing for the team he grew up watching.
“This is my home. I have an extra desire, extra passion for it every single day,” Barrett said. “Just me being me, I’m going to wake up and compete every day. So this (playing for the Raptors) is perfect for me.”
Playing at home is great, but winning at home would be even better and as Barrett said, winning starts with defence.