RJ Barrett discussed what’s next for the Toronto Raptors after the Cleveland Cavaliers eliminated them from the NBA playoffs.
The Toronto Raptors walked out of Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Sunday night having lost a Game 7 they had every reason to win. Cleveland’s 114-102 victory ended Toronto’s season and sent the Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
While Toronto will be evaluating what went wrong during the series, the franchise has left no doubt that it has built a team that has the potential to contend in the East. And RJ Barrett made sure to remind the NBA world of that after the loss.
“We always believed we could play at this level,” Barrett said. “Obviously, this loss hurts, but I think it also shows the rest of the league, the rest of the world what we’re building here. When you see the Toronto Raptors, you’re gonna have a dog fight.”
The concern entering the year was whether Barnes, Barrett, and Brandon Ingram could coexist as three ball-dominant wings in the same starting lineup. But Barrett answered that skepticism directly, carving out a clearly defined role and silencing most of the noise by November.
A 15-game absence due to a right knee sprain interrupted his season midway through the year, and yet he finished as one of Toronto’s most reliable contributors.
Barrett put together a strong regular season for Toronto, averaging 19.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.7 three-pointers in 30.3 minutes per game across 57 appearances. He did it while shooting 50.0% from the field, his most efficient season in a Toronto uniform.
Barrett took his production to the next level during the postseason. He averaged 24.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.7 three-pointers in seven games against Cleveland, and was one of the team’s most consistent contributors throughout the series.
The 25-year-old guard opened with 24 points in Game 1 and followed it with 22 points and nine rebounds in Game 2, before erupting for a series-high 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting in Game 3. Barrett added 25 points and 12 rebounds in Game 5.
With Ingram sidelined for the final two games of the series with right heel inflammation, Barrett stepped into an even larger role without hesitation. He delivered 24 points, including the game-winning three point shot in Game 6. Barrett struggled in Game 7, converting just one of his six three-point attempts, but still managed to finish with 23 points in a losing effort.
However, Barrett’s future in Toronto will be one to watch. If he doesn’t sign an extension this summer, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent next season. Whether the Raptors choose to keep him or trade him will be a key decision they have to make in the offseason.
What is not up for debate is what Barrett showed in this series.