Barrett embraces prominence, defense with Raptors Achi-News

MONTREAL – RJ Barrett isn’t worried that the hometown limelight will wear him down.

Instead the Toronto Raptors guard/forward chooses to embrace the attention.

With the Raptors in Montreal for his first training camp with the team, the 24-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., is looking forward to wearing the red, white and purple jerseys he grew up watching for an entire NBA season.

“It’s crazy for me to even be in this interview. I used to watch this on TV,” Barrett said at the Université du Québec à Montréal on Wednesday. “I have a little bit more pride about it, so I’m going out there, just giving it my all to this, give everything.

“This is my home. I have extra desire, extra passion for it every day. I’m just me I’m going to wake up and compete every day. So this is perfect for me.”

Toronto’s camp runs through Sunday’s preseason game against the Washington Wizards at Montreal’s Bell Centre.

Barrett, whose father Rowan Barrett played professionally in France when he was younger, took the opportunity to practice his second language in a short scrum with the French media on hand.

On the court, the Raptors emphasized working on their defense, which ranked 26th in the league last season. Head coach Darko Rajaković expects Barrett to be a big part of the answer.

“RJ’s defensive effort and his importance on defense this year has to rise only because of the needs of our team,” said Rajaković. “We talk a lot. I call him out in a lot of situations where he needs to be better. He has responded very well.

“It’s great to see him when he gets a stop or does good things defensively that he celebrates and he feels energized. That’s winning. That’s about winning. So he needs to fall in love with defense, be as good a player as he is offensively.”

Barrett, the third overall draft pick in 2019, is better known for his play on the other end of the floor.

The Raptors acquired Barrett and guard Immanuel Quickley from the New York Knicks in the successful OG Anunoby trade last December.

In a sample 32 games with Toronto, the six-foot-six, 214-pound wing averaged career highs of 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

His efficiency was also increasing. Barrett shot 55.3 percent from the floor — more than 10 percent higher than his career average — and 39.2 percent from three-point range.

But with Anunoby and Pascal Siakam gone, Barrett will have to take on tough assignments in a position that boasts some of the best players in the league – and he says he’s up for the challenge.

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“If you want to win, it starts with defense,” Barrett said. “I’ve been practicing it, working on it, especially during the summer, it was huge for me to get reps defensively.

“If I’m playing defense, I can get forward to play defense as well.”

At the Paris Olympics this summer, Barrett averaged 19.8 points, Canada’s second-highest scorer behind NBA MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (21.0). Barrett was also third on the team in rebounds (3.8) and assists (3.5) as France stunned Canada 82-73 in the quarterfinals.

Despite the crushing loss, Barrett quickly traveled to Spain with fellow Canadian Kelly Olynyk to join Raptors minicamp.

His strong summer is paying off early in training camp. On Wednesday, Rajaković singled out Barrett as one of the standout players, citing his ambition to succeed at home.

“I just think that understanding his role on a team, the importance of him stepping up this year. I think he’s had a great summer with Canada Basketball, staying healthy, getting in good shape, has also helped with all of that.” Rajaković said. “It’s really exciting to be home and play in Toronto and play for the Canadian fans.

“All of that brings him extra motivation.”

This report was first published by The Canadian Press on October 2, 2024.

& copy 2024 The Canadian Press