Toronto Raptors swingman RJ Barrett said that he wants to stay with his hometown team for the rest of his NBA career.
Barrett just finished up his second full season in Toronto, and his third overall since coming over in a trade deadline deal in 2024 from the New York Knicks. The 25-year-old native of Toronto was one of the Raptors’ big heroes in this year’s playoffs, as he hit a game-winning 3-pointer to help lift the team to a huge win in Game 6 of their playoff series against the Cavaliers. The Raptors ultimately lost the series 4-3, but Barrett played incredibly well during the postseason, earning the love and admiration of Raptors fans all across Canada for his strong play during the series.
RJ Barrett Never Wants to Leave Toronto
At Monday’s year-end media availability, Barrett was asked what his future in Toronto holds. He has one more year left on his current contract at $29.6 million, after which he can become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NBA career. The team will have the ability to sign him to a contract extension this summer, so we’ll see what GM Bobby Webster decides to do.
From the player’s perspective, though, there’s only one answer here, as Barrett made it clear that he wants to stay in Toronto long-term when he was asked what his plans are going forward.
“This is an easier question for me to answer because I’m from here, and who doesn’t want to play at home? So, of course, I’m trying to stay here,” Barrett said. “I understand the business, but I want to stay here. I don’t have any problems saying that. I want to be here for the rest of my career. I don’t want to leave. I don’t have any problems openly saying that. I’ve done my part on the court this year, and I will continue to do my part, so let’s hope things work out that way.”
RJ Barrett on his long-term future with the Raptors 🦖
RJ Barrett is Still Improving
One of the reasons the Knicks decided to move Barrett was because he was not living up to the hype of being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. In 297 career games for New York, Barrett averaged 18.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists on mediocre .422/.342/.720 shooting splits. The Knicks felt they could do better given his large salary and decided to trade him to Toronto in a package deal with Immanuel Quickly for OG Anunoby. That deal looks like a win-win trade for both teams in hindsight.
With Toronto, however, Barrett has quickly shown signs of improvement. In 147 games for the Raptors, Barrett is averaging 20.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.3 assists on much-improved shooting splits of .495/.353/.662. He has greatly improved his overall field-goal percentage, and his 3-point shooting has gotten better, too, so the Raptors have to be happy about that.
As Barrett mentioned, the NBA is a business, and considering he is going to want $30 million or more per year on his new contract, the team has a big decision to make. But given that he’s from Toronto, that he loves it here, and that the fans love him, it seems like an easy decision to sign him to a long-term deal and have him play the rest of his career in his hometown.
RJ Barrett Wants To Stay With Raptors For Rest of His Career