The Toronto Raptors have another injury that is likely to extend into the regular season.
RJ Barrett, the Raptors’ starting small forward, suffered a sprain of his right acromioclavicular (AC) joint in Sunday’s preseason opener against the Washington Wizards, the team announced on Tuesday. He will miss the Raptors’ remaining four games of the preseason at minimum.
Barrett hurt himself as he tried to navigate a screen set by Washington big man Jonas Valančiūnas, who was called for an offensive foul on the play. Barrett briefly stayed in the game but exited before the second quarter finished after scoring a team-high 17 points in 14 minutes.
The Raptors start the regular season on Oct. 23 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, a game that will take place 17 days after Barrett’s injury occurred. It hurts the Raptors’ depth, which was already waning. Bruce Brown had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee about two weeks ago. He is expected to be reevaluated in a week, but is unlikely to be available to start the regular season. Brown would have been an obvious candidate to step in for Barrett. Additionally, rookie swingman Ja’Kobe Walter suffered the same injury as Barrett just before training camp began. There is no timetable for his return, but he did not participate in on-court activities in the Raptors’ camp in Montreal last week.
Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley also missed training camp because of a personal matter and a thumb injury, respectively. Both are expected to play at some point in the preseason.
With the absences, Ochai Agbaji is most likely to start in Barrett’s place, although the Raptors could go small with Davion Mitchell or bigger with Kelly Olynyk or Chris Boucher.
After being traded to his hometown team to end 2023, Barrett played some of the best basketball of his career to close out last season. He averaged 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 32 games for the Raptors, with career-best marks in a range of advanced statistics. When healthy, he is expected to take on an increased defensive role with the Raptors this year, defending some of the league’s better wings.
The team is expected to start Quickley, Barnes, Gradey Dick and Jakob Poeltl.
(Photo: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
