It's been over a month now since the Raptors were eliminated from the playoffs after a gritty first-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers that got pushed to seven games. While it hurt to see the team fall just short of advancing, there was a handful of positive takeways from the postseason sample to keep Raptors Nation optimistic and excited about the future outlook.
Scottie Barnes broke through and left no doubt that he is the leader of this Raptors team. Several youngsters capitalized on the big stage and stamped their claim as key foundations to the next Raptors generation. While Canada's own, RJ Barrett, slotted in perfectly as a top option for the Raptors' playoff run, after being significantly down in scoring star power without Immanuel Quickley and a struggling (eventually injury-ridden) Brandon Ingram.
In the 2025-26 Raptors postseason sample, Barrett finished tied with Scottie Barnes as the team's leading scorer at 24.1 points per game. The "Maple Mamba" produced on solid efficiency, as he shot 47.7 percent from the field, including 38.6 percent from deep (on an average of 6.3 3PA per game). Elsewhere, Barrett led the team with an average of 7.0 rebounds, added 4.0 assists, and secured 1.3 steals in the seven-game series.
RJ Barrett's playoff leap should help rewrite the volatile scorer narrative
Barrett has often been considered a rather inefficient, volume scorer throughout his career. For a player of that archetype, the playoffs are a dog-eat-dog enviroment that should be unforgiving to that particular style of play.
However, it's been discussed before how Barrett's slashing style seperates him from the rest of Toronto's core as perhaps their most determined scorer in physical situations. With that, we saw RJ Barrett rise to the occasion and prove he can be a legit ceiling-raiser for a team looking to make noise in the postseason.
Playoff teams typically value specialist shooters, preferably that of the 3-and-D archetype, and while Barrett doesn't traditionally fall under this category, his style still seems very translatable as a secondary or third option for a postseason squad. Think of what Andrew Wiggins became for the Golden State Warriors in their 2022 championship run, or while not exactly a mirror style, how Khris Middleton complemented Giannis in the 2021 Bucks title run.
By no means did RJ Barrett play a perfect, flawless series. He could still fall under the trap of trying to force his shot or turning the ball over. Similarly, his longstanding issue of free throw inefficiency continued to be a key area of concern. However, I'll give Barrett a bit of grace for some of those pitfalls, as it often came at a time where no one else could step up to help push the Raptors forward. As the series fell into crunch time, you could see both Barrett and Scottie Barnes visibly spent.
All that being said, if any real discussions were being had regarding RJ Barrett prior to the postseason (and even way before that), it was largely centered on him being used as a Raptors trade chip. Seeing as this core is getting more expensive with each passing year, many envisioned Barrett's time with the Raps drawing close to its end.
While we're still unsure of the Raptors' motivations in a potential contract extension, at the bare minimum, this postseason ascent gave Barrett the perfect bargaining case to either stick around in Toronto for a new price or continue to be a key playoff driver for his next team.
I think it can often slip people's minds that RJ Barrett is only going to turn 26 years old in a few weeks, and with a mix of youth, hometown pride, and a determined style of play on his side — it all fits seamlessly alongside the Barnes-led Raptors core.
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