Kawhi Leonard is back in Toronto, and the move instantly changes the temperature around the Raptors. It also puts RJ Barrett squarely in the middle of a roster question that isn’t going away anytime soon.
Barrett just finished his second full season with the Raptors, and the playoff stretch he put together made a loud case for him as part of the franchise’s next core. With Brandon Ingram struggling and Scottie Barnes carrying a heavy load, Barrett stepped into the No. 2 role and handled it. That surge had plenty of fans convinced the hometown guard should already have an extension locked in and be treated as a fixture of the next era.
Leonard’s arrival complicates that idea. Barrett is at his best when the ball is in his hands, and he’s less effective when he has to work away from it.
That creates a real fit question next to Leonard, whose presence naturally shifts the offense in his direction. At the same time, Leonard’s health history means Toronto can’t assume he’ll be available every night, and Barrett gives the team another creator it can lean on when Leonard sits.
That tension is what makes this such a tricky call for Bobby Webster before next season.
The case for keeping Barrett starts with simple roster logic. Leonard is 35 and probably has only one, maybe two, seasons of elite play left.
If Toronto wants to get the most out of that window, it needs answers around him. Barrett can be one of them, especially when Leonard is out and Barnes needs another scorer beside him.
That setup echoes the role Pascal Siakam played next to Kyle Lowry during Leonard’s first Toronto run in 2018-19.
There’s also the playoff angle. Barrett showed in last season’s postseason that he can rise to the moment, averaging 24.1 points per game while shooting 38.6 percent from three. For a Raptors team hoping for a deep run into the postseason in 2027, that kind of production matters.
And then there’s the human side of it. Barrett is one of the few players in the league who would likely be willing to stay long-term with Toronto. As a Mississauga kid in the middle of his prime, he carries value beyond the box score, and keeping him could help keep the Leonard window open.
But the argument for moving him is just as clear. Leonard needs touches when he’s on the floor, and Barrett is not a strong off-ball player.
He’s a career 34.5 percent three-point shooter, which makes it easier for defenses to ignore him when he isn’t initiating. That’s a problem in a lineup built around Leonard’s rhythm and usage.
There’s also the trade market to think about. Among Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Jakob Poeltl, Barrett would bring the highest trade value.
Toronto’s current eight-man rotation is solid, but the depth behind it is shaky. With the team’s financial situation tight, Barrett’s contract and value could be used to bring in another shot creator and a backup big, which might serve the Raptors better when the games get heavier.
So the Raptors are staring at a real fork in the road: keep Barrett and trust the fit can work, or use him as the piece that fills out the roster around Leonard. Both paths make sense. Both come with risk.
If I had to guess, Bobby Webster keeps Barrett and lets this group, with Leonard added, take its shot next season.
In Other News...
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For the Raptors, the broader picture only gets more interesting when the leagues star movement starts to stack up around them. Toronto is already being viewed through the lens of a major talent upgrade, and with Scottie Barnes, Collin Murray-Boyles, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett and rookie Allen Graves in the mix, the question becomes how quickly the new look can settle in if the rest of the conference keeps shifting under its feet. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors May Have Moved On From Jonathan Mogbo Far Too Soon
Jonathan Mogbo never got much runway in Toronto after the Raptors took him 31st overall, and his early NBA minutes reflected how hard it was to carve out a role. The fit was always tricky for a player whose offensive limitations made it difficult to earn trust on a roster that needed spacing and cleaner efficiency, leaving him on the margins as the season unfolded.
Now the path looks a little different. Toronto declined his team option this offseason, and Mogbo has since landed with the Sacramento Kings on a two-way deal, giving him another chance to stick in the league. For the Raptors, it is another reminder that a young player can arrive with intrigue and still move on before the organization ever fully learns what he might become. [Read more 🡒]