Kawhi Leonard got his contract extension. Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley are locked up for at least the next three seasons, as is center Jakob Poeltl on a head-scratchingly large extension (which doesn’t even kick in until next season).
What about RJ Barrett? The 26-year-old scoring wing and Toronto have yet to have any meaningful extension talks as he heads into the final season of his contract, reports Sportsnet’s Michael Grange.
According to league sources, the Raptors and Barrett’s long-time agent Bill Duffy have yet to sit down and have substantive conversations about the possibility of a contract extension which — in theory — could be worth as much as $185 million over four seasons.
Barrett could be the latest in a growing list of players who want to stay with a team — and those teams would love to keep him — but the financial penalties of the luxury tax aprons make that very difficult (Jaylen Brown in Boston is the shining example).
Barrett is set to make $29.6 million this season, coming off a year where he averaged 19.3 points a game in the regular season, then, with Brandon Ingram out, took over in the playoffs and averaged 24.1 points per game through seven games against the Cavaliers. He’s not looking to take much of a haircut, if any. However, the Raptors are $37.8 million below the projected first apron and $50.8 million below the second for next season with just nine players on the books. Paying Barrett market rate, rounding out the roster and staying out of the aprons becomes very difficult.
There is no animosity between Barrett, an Ontario native, and the Raptors. The sides would like to work something out. However, as a scoring wing on an expiring contract, you can bet his name is going to come up in a lot of trade rumors between now and the deadline. Unless an extension can be reached before then.
Toronto heads into a season where it really likes its roster and thinks it could make some noise in the East, but already keeping that roster together — and keeping a Canadian in the place he wants to be — becomes difficult. Welcome to the NBA Adam Silver wants.