Raptors guard RJ Barrett was forced out of Sunday’s preseason opener vs. the Washington Wizards after suffering a shoulder contusion in the first half. The 24 year old would take a seat for the remainder of the evening in Montreal as the team opted to act out of an abundance of caution.
Prior to taking a bump while fighting through a screen, Barrett was on fire offensively which bodes well for a Toronto team likely to lean heavily on the former Knick to score points this season. The injury isn’t believed to be overly serious, however the club may choose to rest the Canadian in the rematch this coming Friday.
Across 32 games with the Raptors in 2023-24, the former lottery pick averaged 21.8pts/6.4reb/4.1ast per contest. His stellar play earned him a spot on Canada’s Olympic basketball roster this past summer in Paris, where he played a key role in the team’s early tournament success.
After a disappointing 25-57 record last season, Toronto is looking to bounce back and reach the postseason for the first time in 3 years. A goal which isn’t as big a stretch as one might assume given how top heavy the Eastern Conference has become.
While most would agree that the Raptors are still a ways away from being viewed as a viable championship contender, getting some playoff reps for the team’s young core would be a positive outcome from the upcoming NBA campaign. That, coupled with another step forward offensively by Barrett, would position Toronto well for the next phase of their rebuild.
The Raptors open their regular season on October 23rd against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Photo: Sandro Halank. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.