With the Kawhi Leonard trade official, Raptors fans can finally sit down and look at this roster without any uncertainty. This has naturally reignited conversations about where a player like RJ Barrett fits among Immanuel Quickley, Scottie Barnes, and Leonard. Between those three players, Toronto has plenty of ball-handling and shot creation that make Barrett’s skill set feel redundant. Ideally, you’d have an off-ball three-and-D guard who doesn’t eat up touches on offense and can generate turnovers or stops defensively.
After the year Ja’Kobe Walter had for the Raptors, from my point of view, they already have the exact type of off-guard they need, and he’s on a team-friendly deal. That is why the discourse around trading Barrett is weird: not because I think he fits, but because I don’t agree with what people are talking about flipping him for.
Most fans are suggesting that, by trading Barrett, the Raptors need to upgrade the starting shooting guard spot, which couldn’t be more wrong. Trading Barrett should be done to fill out the rest of this Raptors roster with shooting and size while allowing Walter to slot in as a starter.
Fans have the return in a Barrett trade all wrong
Like most Raptors fans, I do believe this team is a championship contender with Kawhi Leonard. But they still do have their flaws. Mostly in their floor spacing and a lack of size down low. Trading Barrett could help in both areas.
Moving him for a floor-spacing wing and a solid center that can help add to a win-by-committee center approach alongside Jakob Poeltl and Collin Murray-Boyles would make this team better. A rough draft of a trade I drew up was a deal with the Pistons where Detroit gets Barrett and Toronto gets Paul Reed and Duncan Robinson. This isn’t perfect, as the Pistons are thin at the five right now too, but it's an example of the kind of value the Raptors should look for in deals involving Barrett.
Sticking with that deal, if you’re the Raptors, you’d be adding another player who can shoot at a 40 or near 40 percent clip from three and a quality big who could lighten CMB’s load. It also allows a 40.9 percent three-point shooter from last season in Walter to slot in as a starter.
The conversation about upgrading Barrett is so pointless. This team has enough top-end talent to win; they don’t need to go give up a Desmond Bane-sized package to upgrade Barrett’s spot. They need someone who can complement their stars better. Since they already have that in Walter, stretching Barrett’s near-$30 million salary into two, perhaps in some cases three, rotation pieces that fill holes is the right route.
Even in a different reality where the Raptors wouldn’t be trading with a fellow playoff contender in the Pistons, his value around the league would be high for a lot of teams. Barrett is coming off an impressive playoff run where he was Toronto’s No. 2 option and averaged 24.1 points while shooting 38.6 percent from three. Given how the NBA Draft lottery is going to function, rewarding middle-of-the-pack teams, rebuilding organizations could have more incentive to target players like Barrett.
So teams like the Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, Brooklyn Nets, and Chicago Bulls could all be interested in adding a possession eater like Barrett to their roster.
Next season, if Toronto is looking to improve by trading Jakob Poeltl or Immanuel Quickley, the goal would be to upgrade their starting spot. Trading Barrett should have a different objective. For the Raptors, moving Barrett could be a way to round out the roster and embrace the more-is-less approach rather than chasing another star.
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