The Toronto Raptors will have to figure out how to win games without Kawhi Leonard for the foreseeable future. Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Leonard is dealing with swelling in his left knee and will miss "a period of weeks," while Michael Grange of Sportsnet relayed that the two-time NBA champion will be re-evaluated in a week.
Considering Leonard's injury history and the delicate nature of knee-related ailments, one thing is clear: With the current roster construction, the Raptors can't afford to trade RJ Barrett.
Barrett is a polarizing figure due to his clearly appealing talent and production, but at times polarizing style of play. He can develop tunnel vision as an isolation scorer and has a fairly unpredictable jump shot that can limit his off-ball value to the team.
The harsh reality facing the Raptors in the aftermath of Leonard's injury, however, is that they don't have many volume scorers to turn to with the six-time All-NBA honoree sidelined.
Yes, there's a general hope that Scottie Barnes will make the proverbial leap as a scorer during the 2026-27 season. And yes, the Raptors should give Barnes every opportunity to do so. In terms of what's known about the players on the roster, however, Barrett may very well be the best scorer among the healthy players.
With this in mind, the Raptors can't afford to trade Barrett unless they make fairly drastic changes to the roster at large to be able to better accommodate Leonard's injury issues.
Raptors need a volume scorer for when Kawhi Leonard misses time
It's tough to write these words without a degree of guilt, but a part of having Leonard on a roster is understanding that injury absences are a part of the package. He's 35 years of age, and even when he made All-NBA in 2023-24 and 2025-26, he missed 17 and 14 games respectively.
Leonard also missed 45 games in 2024-25, 30 in 2022-23, all of 2021-22, and 20 in 2020-21. Though he's been generally healthy in two of the past three seasons, winning regular season games without him is a part of the job now.
No one player necessarily needs to rise to the occasion and do what Leonard does, particularly when one considers that anyone who truly can is a legitimate first option. Barrett can at least simulate what Leonard brings to the table on offense, however, as a high-volume scorer with the ability to punish teams within the arc.
Though it will be all hands on deck to win with Leonard on the sidelines, Barrett's ability to score 20-plus points per game will take significant pressure off of his teammates who aren't quite at that level yet.
That, of course, doesn't exclude the possibility that a player such as Barnes, Immanuel Quickley, or Ja'Kobe Walter could rise to the occasion. Until that transpires, however, Barrett is the most productive and proven volume scorer on the roster after Leonard.
Barrett has his moments where fans wish he'd play differently, but considering Leonard's injury history and the Raptors' need for volume scorers, trading him simply isn't an option.
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