RJ Barrett has been very open about his desire to stay with the Raptors long-term. He grew up watching the team and cheering for previous iterations of the Raptors. Hitting a game-winning 3-pointer in Game 6 to keep the Raptors’ playoff run alive a little longer in front of a Toronto crowd probably only made him want to stay even more. Being celebrated as a home-grown NBA hero by an entire country is a unique feeling only Canadian players suiting up for the Raptors can experience.
But his future is still very much in the air. He is extension-eligible this summer, and signing him to a new contract could prove difficult for a Raptors organization that already has a lot of long-term money committed to Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, Immanuel Quickley, and Jakob Poeltl. Plus, unlike any of the other expendable starters around Barnes, Barrett has already drawn interest in trade talks.
HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto recently reported, “Toronto Raptors swingman RJ Barrett has drawn trade interest in multi-team conversations, league sources told HoopsHype.”
The Raptors were good this past season, but if they want to become great and actually compete with the top of the Eastern Conference, they will have to be active on the trade market. Barrett is on an expiring contract, and his trade value should be high after his playoff heroics. He was always the Raptors’ best trade chip outside of their picks, and the one player that could actually bring back anything of value. They could send Jakob Poeltl to the Bulls or Grizzlies, but both transactions would require the Raptors to send out valuable draft picks just to offload his salary.
That’s truer now that there is already reported trade interest in Barrett than ever. So, if there’s a good trade package for Barrett out there, the Raptors can’t really afford to say no.
Difficult decisions are part of the NBA business
Just because the Raptors are listening to teams interested in Barrett, it doesn’t mean that they are desperate to move on from him or will do so. The latter fully depends on what potential trades look like.
After he led the team in points and rebounds per game in the playoffs and stepped up big when Brandon Ingram struggled before missing the final two games with a heel injury, the Raptors would probably like to keep Barrett around and see what he and Scottie Barnes can do with better spacing around them.
But if there’s a way that trading Barrett helps the team build a better, more cohesive roster around Barnes, the front office has to do what’s best for the team, even if fans might not be thrilled to see one of their best playoff performers and just two Canadians on the roster depart.
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