As the hometown kid, RJ Barrett will always have an overwhelming amount of support, but will also be subjected to higher criticism. With the last couple up and down seasons, battles with injury, and personal struggles, he’s had to overcome quite a bit over the last couple of years. If the Raptors’ media day is any indicator of his upcoming season though, he’s in a better place and high expectations are in order for the year he could have.
When asked about how he was feeling towards the end of last season, he said “I was tired… I think sometimes when you’re playing, like, you know, kind of year-round, you got to try to balance, like, rest”. Ending in April and getting healthy gave him the opportunity “to really focus on, you know, getting my mind and my body right. And, yeah, I was thankful for it”. He’s been back in the gym and we’ve had glimpses of him training that are encouraging signs towards the season we can expect from him.
As a result, his excitement for the season and wanting to get back is evident in his demeanor, which is a welcome sight for everyone.
So let’s take a look back on his last season in terms of what went well and what went poorly, what we can hope for from him this year, and how he’ll fit in the system with everyone healthy.
Despite playing only 58 games for the Raptors last season, he led the team in scoring with 21.1 points per game, was fourth in rebounding with 6.3 per game, and dished out 5.4 assists per game, good for 3rd on the team. He had almost 4000 possessions, second behind only Scottie, giving a sufficient sample size to examine his strengths and weaknesses for the team last year.
The good:
Although he receives criticism for his defence, when compared to other guards in the league, his defensive hustle stands out. Last season alone, he contests 2.3 long-range shots per game, ranking 19th among guards, 4.7 total contests (17th) and 2.4 deflections (42nd). Although not in the top ten, he’s being measured against 238 players, which makes him pretty respectable. Being a good defender is important to him, and he clearly said that he sees himself as a two-way player. His effort on that end was admirable, especially given some of the lineups he found himself in last year.
Even more impressive was his leadership in the clutch. Scoring 68 clutch points last season, he led the Raptors. In fact, if he was on the floor, he was responsible for more than a third of their scoring.
He showed up for the team in a lot of games, especially this 39 point performance against the Pacers:
He continuously asserted himself by cutting, dunking, and posting up mismatches successfully for plays around the rim.
The bad:
Shooting 63% from the free-throw line, especially as a guard is unacceptable. It’s hard not to see this a game-altering, especially with his aggressive driving and cutting. Being able to convert at the line is something he is expected to do, and it’s unfortunate many of his trips there came up empty.
His shooting in general took a bit of a dip last year, shooting 35% from long range and 47% from the field as a whole. Not bad numbers by any means, but more noticeable since they are dips from the previous years.
As a member of the Raptors, it makes sense that he utilized transition play frequently, with 6 possessions per game coming in that form. He was able to create 1.05 points per play, but while that seems decent, it lands him in the bottom third of production in the league. Spot up shooting he also produced less than a point per play despite doing it more than four times a game, also placing him around the bottom third of the league.
Some of that might have to do with why he fell in the NBA’s rankings this year to 100th in the league, but if anything that’s probably just helped contribute to the chip on his shoulder. “You kind of just go and just surprise everybody. And we put in the work, so we’re very confident going in”.
The reality is, despite some of those less than stellar numbers, it’s impossible to not look at the tough situation he and the other Raptors were in last season. It’s not beyond anyone that the lineups were all over the place and he often was one of the only offensive options on the court. Now, he’ll share the floor with Quickley, Barnes, Poeltl, and Ingram, all of whom will represent scoring threats. All of a sudden, RJ is under less pressure and can be an incredible third or fourth option.
He doesn’t mind either. “We’re all unselfish players and we try to win” he said. He also left us this great nugget:
Ball movement will be the key for this roster. Scottie, BI, IQ, and RJ have all shown the ability to move the ball and find guys open. Throughout last season, one of the things that kept a lot of fans going were the highlight level plays where the ball was whizzing around the court. Drive and kicks, dump-offs, and transition passing that all created scoring opportunities were the bread and butter of the offence. With limited guys, a lot of those trips came up empty, but now with health, we can expect a lot more of that.
With great passing comes defensive miscommunications which will provide endless opportunities for RJ to do what he does best: Cut to the rack and rattle it.
Although I don’t necessarily see him having the number of possessions that he did last year, his greatest potential will be as a cutter. With more offensive options on the floor, there will be better mismatches on opposing teams’ defences for him to take advantage of. He might not have 21 points a night again, but his scoring will be about taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves.
He’s not chasing individual goals though, he’s made it clear he’s happy to do what he can to help the team win. Despite any preseason rankings, that hasn’t stopped him or the Raptors from setting their sights high this season.
As RJ said, the goal is nothing short of winning games and competing for a championship. With all things considered, the improved health, defensive identity, and mindset of everyone going in seems promising. It shouldn’t be surprising to anyone if and when he has a breakout season.
