TORONTO – It may very well be some time before RJ Barrett is a daily within the Toronto Raptors’ starting lineup.
Barrett was listed as day-to-day by the Raptors hours before tip-off against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday. Barrett missed that game, and certain more, after he sprained his right knee.
“We did obviously some imaging last night, some further examinations this morning,” said head coach Darko Rajakovic in his pre-game news conference. “Looks very promising, excellent.
“At this point, he’s going to be daily.”
Barrett appeared to hurt himself in Toronto’s 119-109 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday when he landed awkwardly after a dunk within the third quarter. He left the ground at the subsequent stoppage of play and didn’t return.
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The native of Mississauga, Ont., is second on the Raptors with 19.4 points per game this season. He’s also averaging 4.8 rebounds and three.8 assists per game.
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“RJ could be very, very vital player for us, and he does some things which might be very unique for him and for our team,” said Rajakovic. “I don’t expect anybody to step up in his shoes and to be different than RJ.
“We have now multiple players that may bring different dimension to our starters. Is that more defensive minded? Is that more spacing offensively? I believe those couple of days that RJ goes to be out goes to be good routine for us to explore and see what it looks like and who may help us the most effective.”
Backup point guard Jamal Shead picked up Barrett’s minutes within the remaining time of the Raptors’ win over Brooklyn. Second-year guard Ja’Kobe Walter, normally a reserve, was slotted into Toronto’s starting lineup against the Cavaliers on Monday.
Shead is averaging 6.2 points, 5.6 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game this season. He excels defensively, with 0.8 steals and 0.1 blocks per game.
Walter is averaging 4.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game this season.
“Jamal Shead is only a winner. He’s making winning plays on each ends of the ground,” said Rajakovic. “That was not a simple decision yesterday, because we had several guys that played very well. I assumed that Ja’Kobe played great game as well.
“I used to be form of like, between those two guys who’s going to be ending the sport for us. However it’s good to have that form of problem, ?”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 24, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press