The Raptors blew a double-digit lead en route to Wednesday’s loss to San Antonio and only managed to score 17 points in the fourth quarter. The Raptors’ half-court offense has been a major reason why the Toronto is now 4-15 against the teams with the 10 best records in the NBA.
As Koreen writes, RJ Barrett certainly isn’t solely to blame for those half-court struggles, but he hasn’t been helping matters lately. The 25-year-old has averaged 14.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists on .401/.308/.734 shooting in 12 games since he returned from an ankle sprain. His scoring, FG% and 3PT% over that stretch are well below his season-long averages.
Unless Toronto reverses the trend of falling to the league’s top teams, using Barrett as a primary salary-matching piece could be the team’s best chance at improving in the offseason, says Koreen. Barrett will earn $29.6MM in 2026/27, which is the final year of his contract.
Rival teams didn’t seem interested in the long-term contracts of Immanuel Quickley or Jakob Poeltl ahead of the deadline, Koreen writes, and the only other high-priced player the team might consider using in search of upgrades would be Brandon Ingram. But Ingram makes more money than Barrett, has taken pressure off Scottie Barnesand holds a $41.9MM player option for ’27/28, Koreen notes.
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