The injury bug hit the Toronto Raptors extremely hard last season and like Yogi Berra once said, so far 2024-25 has been like deja vu all over again.
The latest bad news was the announcement Tuesday that star swingman RJ Barrett, the team’s leading scorer after he was acquired from the New York Knicks last December, will miss the rest of the pre-season with a sprained right acromioclavicular joint. In layman’s terms, that’s a separated shoulder. It occurred when Barrett got caught up on a screen by former Raptor Jonas Valanciunas in the pre-season opener Sunday against the Washington Wizards. Barrett had been the best player on the floor to that point of the game, hitting three three-pointers on the way to 17 assists. He’d also been utilized more as a playmaker in the absences of Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes.
The Raptors said Barrett’s condition would be updated as appropriate following the end of the pre-season. Toronto has four more exhibitions, with the last coming on Oct. 18 at Brooklyn. The season opens on Oct. 23 with the Cleveland Cavaliers in Toronto.
Rookie Ja’Kobe Walter suffered the same injury a week-and-a-half earlier and is also sidelined for the entire pre-season. Veteran swingman Bruce Brown is out as he recovers from knee surgery, while Quickley has been unable to play due to a thumb sprain.
That will all mean lots of time for Gradey Dick, Davion Mitchell, Jamal Shead and other young Raptors in the coming weeks. Quickley is closest to a return and will slot in as the starting point guard when he does. Barrett will either start at small forward or shooting guard when he returns either later this month or in November, with Dick likely manning the other spot.
Barrett averaged 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 33.5 minutes in 32 games (all starts) with the Raptors last season and played the best basketball of his career in that time.
Last year’s Raptors were amongst the league leaders in games missed due to injuries.