MONTREAL — RJ Barrett isn’t concerned the hometown limelight will wear him down.
The Toronto Raptors guard/forward is instead choosing 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 donning the red, white and purple jerseys he grew up watching for an entire NBA season.
“It's crazy to 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 for it, so I'm going out there, just give my whole heart to this, give everything.
“This is my home. I have an extra desire, extra passion for it every single day. Just me being 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 practise his second language in a brief scrum with the French media on hand.
On the court, the Raptors emphasized working on their defence, which ranked 26th in the league last season. Head coach Darko Rajaković expects Barrett to be a big part of the solution.
“RJ's defensive effort and importance on defence this year has to rise just because of the needs of our team,” Rajaković said. “We talk a lot. I'm calling him out in a lot of situations that he needs to be better. He's responded really well.
“It's great to see him when he gets a stop or does good stuff defensively that he's celebrating and he feels energy. That's winning. That's about winning. So we need him to fall in love with defence, be as good a player as he is offensively.”
Barrett, the third overall draft pick in 2019, is better known for his play at the other end of the floor.
The Raptors acquired Barrett and guard Immanuel Quickley from the New York Knicks in the blockbuster OG Anunoby trade last December.
In a 32-game sample 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 also spiked. Barrett shot 55.3 per cent from the floor — more than 10 per cent higher than his career average — and 39.2 per cent 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 league’s top players — and he says he’s up for the challenge.
“If you want to win, it starts with defence,” Barrett said. “I've been practising it, working on it, especially during the summertime, that was huge for me to just get reps defensively.
“If I'm playing defence, I can get on other guys to play defence too.”
At this summer’s Paris Olympics, 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 travelled to Spain with fellow Canadian Kelly Olynyk to join a Raptors mini-camp.
His strong summer is paying off early in training camp. On Wednesday, Rajaković highlighted Barrett as one of the players who’s standing out, noting his ambition of succeeding at home.
“I just think that understanding his role on a team, the importance of him to step up this year. I think that he had a great summer with Canada Basketball, staying healthy, getting in good shape, also has helped with all of that.” Rajaković said. “He's very excited to be home and play in Toronto and playing for the Canadian fans.
“All of that brings extra motivation for him.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2024.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press