Toronto Raptors' RJ Barrett drives past Washington Wizards' Kyshawn George during a game in November.
Toronto Raptors' RJ Barrett drives past Washington Wizards' Kyshawn George during a game in November. The Canadian Press
The cavalry isn’t about to arrive for the Toronto Raptors in the form of RJ Barrett.
The team’s starting shooting guard and leading scorer each of the previous two seasons will miss at least another week due to his right knee sprain.
The Raptors said Monday afternoon that while Barrett continues to progress, he has been treated with a platelet-rich plasma injection and his condition will be updated in a week.
He will miss Tuesday’s NBA Cup quarterfinal game against the team that drafted him third overall, the New York Knicks, as well as the rest of the potential semifinal and championship game — both to be played in Las Vegas this weekend — beyond that, plus other contests.
Barrett was hurt after landing on a non-contact play and has missed the past eight games, five of them losses. In that time Toronto has gone from having one of the most efficient offences in the NBA to dead-last in most offensive categories.
Barrett is averaging 19.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 30.9 minutes in 17 starts while shooting above 50% from the field.
“We all know who RJ is and what he brings to the table for us. He’s a very important player for us offensively, but I don’t want to look in those those terms,” Rajakovic said after trying a number of other options to replace Barrett.
“He’s not here. We gotta figure out we have more than capable team. We have a lot of talent. We have a lot of young guys that need to step up and improve in this stretch over here, different players are getting opportunities now. It was really good to see Ochai (Agbaji, who had a good game) here, that he came back and they had really good pop on defensive end, and he helped us on offence as well.”
Rajakovic started Ja’Kobe Walter again at shooting guard, but that didn’t go well. Gradey Dick is struggling mightily and Jamison Battle, arguably the best shooter on the team, is injured.
All that prompted Rajakovic to go with Raptors 905 star A.J. Lawson against the Celtics and he responded with 10 points in 13 minutes. Rookie Alijah Martin also played briefly.
“That’s what we talked about early in the season, that all of those guys are very important for us, and that we trust and believe in all of them and they’re going to get opportunities,” Rajakovic said.
“Jamison Battle got his opportunities. A.J., Alijah stepped on the floor tonight. Chucky (Hepburn), he’s going to be there like everybody can have opportunity. They just need to work very hard to be ready for the moment.”
Walter and Dick have not been able to seize the opportunity consistently so far this season. Rajakovic thinks the competition is beneficial for his young players, knowing they need to show more.
“It’s good for them. It’s good for their development, knowing that there is somebody behind, like, if I don’t do well, if I, you know, if I don’t perform well, then somebody else is going to be there, is going to be getting opportunities,” Rajakovic said.
“I think that’s fair. When you have a roster of 14 players plus three two-ways that we have the 17 players we believe and trust in all of those guys. And now some nights, nobody’s going to have a perfect night, every night, and how are we going to pick each other up?
“How are we going to find ways to be competitive every single night? Because at the end of the day, that’s the job.”
Without Barrett, that job is clearly harder for the Raptors.