One swing skill: RJ Barrett and his cutting

This is a part of an off-season series by Esfandiar Baraheni, breaking down one skill for each Raptor heading into the 2025-2026 season that could change their career. Check out the video below.

Much has been made about how expensive the Toronto Raptors are, and the natural progression with that line of thinking is a trade. RJ Barrett has been at the forefront of the rumour mill for the Raptors over the last few months, and for a few reasons: Barrett is extension eligible in October, the Raptors are above the luxury tax, needing to shed salary eventually, and the while trio of Barrett, Scottie Barnes, and Brandon Ingram has its merits, there are some eventual hurdles they’ll have to come across to make it work on the court.

But the Raptors don’t need to trade Barrett. In fact, they shouldn’t be rushing at all. Fans have jumped the gun a bit on how Barrett fits into everything the Raptors want to build, and there’s a version of his game that could potentially thrive in this context.

Over his first 90 games in his hometown, Barrett has played the best basketball of his career. He’s put up career highs across the board in points, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage, and two-point percentage. He won his minutes for the first time in his career in Toronto (+9.3 on-off differential in over 3000 minutes), and he was also part of some of the most successful defensive lineups for the Raptors last season.

In an injury-riddled season for the team, Barrett was given ample opportunity with the ball in his hands and blossomed as a pick-and-roll initiator, generating 1.028 points per pick-run (including passes) in over 500 possessions, ranking in the 72nd percentile. Those numbers are comparable to Malik Monk, Devin Booker, and De’Aaron Fox’s last season.

Barrett excelled as one of the best transition players in the NBA, finishing top 5 in fastbreak points per game and the top 20 in points in the paint — feats only Giannis, LeBron, and Barrett were able to accomplish last season. That said, Barrett shot below league average at the rim, finishing on just 55% of his shots there, despite a majority of his shot diet coming there. While he was formidable operating in the pick-and-roll, especially when paired alongside a good screener like Jakob Poeltl, his lack of a pull-up jumper (19% from three on pull-ups last season) limited his versatility, and he mostly created in these actions by just barrelling his way to the basket. It doesn’t help that Barrett shot just 63% from the free-throw line last season.

Context matters here, though. While Barrett needs to improve from the line, his shot quality was inherently more challenging last season because of how injured the Raptors were. The trio of Quickley, Barnes, and Barrett only spent 285 minutes together last season. Opposing defenses could key in on RJ more frequently, knowing he was the number 1 option on most nights.

Barrett did, however, have an overall good shooting season — knocking down 36% of his threes, shooting 37% on catch-and-shoot looks, and nearly 40% on unguarded shots and that will be an essential swing skill next season alongside Ingram and Barnes, who will no doubt get the bulk of on-ball opportunity.

Look, there’s no question that Barrett has grown substantially in his time in Toronto. He’s a genuinely positive and impactful NBA player now, with a unique set of skills that he’ll be able to nurture as the years go on.

But, naturally, Barrett’s game will look different compared to last season. His role will be different. And how he fits into what the Raptors are doing will likely dictate if he’s part of the long-term future.

It’ll come down to his cutting.

In his first 32 games with the Raptors in the 2023-2024 season, Barrett was tasked with working more off the ball. He had to play off of Pascal Siakam, and then when Spicy P was traded, the Raptors gave Barnes ample opportunity to stretch his legs as an on-ball creator.

Barrett was excellent. He generated 1.4 points per possession on over 60 cuts in 32 games for the Raptors, ranking in the 72nd percentile.

For context: Barrett had only two seasons in New York where he registered over 60 cuts. He did it in just 32 games for the Raptors in 2023-2024. The Raptors’ offense, predicated on quick decision-making, forced Barrett to move without the ball to get the ball. Their slanted actions, armed with curling drives off the weakside and empty side dribble hand-offs, paired exceptionally well with Barrett’s downhill driving game.

Darko’s system was a match made in heaven for RJ Barrett: Off-ball savant.

As we look forward to next season, there will be a two-prog system to Barrett’s game:

First: working off spot-ups and cuts in the starting unit and shooting a sustainable percentage on catch-and-shoot threes, cutting into openings, and feasting in transition. Defensively, the idea would be that his positional size and the Raptors’ size across the board will be functional enough for Barrett to make an impact on that end.

Second: dominating transitional lineups against bench units. These will be the moments where Barrett can sharpen his instrument as an on-ball creator, work in pick-and-rolls, be a facilitator of sorts, and help uplift the Raptors’ secondary units.

This is the recipe for Barrett not only to avoid getting traded from Toronto, but to thrive in his hometown and become a part of the next playoff team. It’s the way that he can take the next step in his career while the Raptors take their next step in the evolutionary process.

He has all the tools requisite to go out and do it.

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