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'Looks very promising, very good. At this point it’s going to be day-to-day.'
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Published Nov 24, 2025 • 3 minute read
Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett
Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett (9) brings the ball up court in front of Indiana Pacers forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (25) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Indianapolis on Saturday. Photo by AJ Mast /The Associated Press
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The Toronto Raptors are breathing a sigh of relief.
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Starting shooting guard RJ Barrett came up hobbling after finishing a third quarter dunk during Sunday’s win over the Brooklyn Nets and left the game without returning.
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The club labelled it a knee sprain and non-contact injuries are always concerning, but head coach Darko Rajakovic had good news prior to Monday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
‘Day-to-day’
“RJ is doing well. We did some imaging last night, some further examination this morning. Looks very promising, very good. At this point it’s going to be day-to-day,” Rajakovic said. It seems likely Barrett only misses a small number of games — the Raptors are a lot more transparent with injuries than their corporate cousins the Maple Leafs who might have labelled a similar injury “lower body, day-to-day,” only for the player to disappear for several weeks.
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The Raptors have only lost 17 man games due to injuries this season, the third-lowest mark in the NBA and a far cry from the previous two seasons, when it seemed like at least two starters were absent just about every night. In fact, Toronto’s starting group of Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl has played 166 minutes together this season, the most of any five-man group in the league.
But that combination won’t be at Rajakovic’s disposal for the time being. Shooting guard happens to arguably be Toronto’s deepest position though, giving Rajakovic plenty of options until Barrett is ready to return.
Coach has plenty of options
“RJ is a very, very important player for us. He does some things that are very unique for him and for our team,” Rajakovic said. “I don’t expect anybody to step up in his shoes and be a different RJ. We have multiple players that can bring a different dimension to our starters. Is that more defensive minded? Is that more spacing offensively? I think those couple of days that RJ is going to be out is going to be a good opportunity for us to see what that looks like and who can help us the best.”
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Rajakovic went with sophomore wing Ja’Kobe Walter against Cleveland over third-year scoring guard Gradey Dick and fourth-year guard Ochai Agbaji. The team has liked the way Dick has flourished off the bench and Agbaji, one of the more pleasant surprises last season, has mostly been out of the rotation this season but is the best defender out of the three (and better at that end than Barrett too).
Walter had been playing sparse minutes to start the year (about-10-16 a game), but had been the first reserve Rajakovic had called on in the team’s previous two games (playing his most minutes of any games this year).
The organization is high on Walter, who they were pleasantly surprised to still see on the board when it was time to make the 19th pick in 2024, and Rajakovic had been talking him up recently.
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Ja’Kobe Walter ‘very talented’
“He’s a very, very talented basketball player. He’s very young,” Rajakovic had said last week of Walter, who only turned 21 in September.
“There is so much for him to learn, and he just needs to understand that it’s a process. It’s not going to happen overnight. And a lot of times, you know, we play 10 guys in rotation, younger guys will be in the shortest things there. And as a young player, you really want to make that impact on a game right away, and that’s impossible, like if you put an expectation on yourself, and the outside world is putting that expectation you, it’s gonna be really hard. All you got to do go out there and compete and try to execute game plan. Game is going to come to you,” he said.
“I think the offensive side is going to come for him the more he plays. I think it’s just about figuring ways to stay on the court. (In a recent game he) was amazing, he dove on the floor like three or four times, got a bunch of steals. He was a dog on defence, you know, he was coming up to me like, ‘yo, yo, I want to get ball.’ I’m like, okay, yeah, cool, cool. Go ahead. Go ahead.”
Walter will now get a chance to show more in an elevated role.
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