“The future’s very bright for us. It’s only the beginning,” says RJ Barrett on defining season

After nearly pulling off an upset against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their return to the NBA playoffs, RJ Barrett offered a positive and future-oriented take on what this season meant for the Toronto Raptors.

“Always, the goal is to win a championship. Where we were last year till now has been a huge jump. So, it’s successful in that, but also, because I think you see with the work that’s put in… the future’s very bright for us. It’s only the beginning.” Barrett when asked to define this season.

Barrett offered a more positive outlook on this season than Scottie Barnes did and while he did acknowledge that they want to win a championship, he also took time to reflect on how far they’ve come when compared to where they were last year. Toronto has built more of an identity this year as a tough and physical defensive team, whereas last season they were still figuring that part of things out.

“Efficiency .. think it was my most efficient season … be more successful with less … find where I fit in on both sides of the basketball… do more in a different way.” RJ when asked about his growth.

Although his scoring average took a dip from 21.1 points per game last season to 19.3 points per game, like Barrett said, it was his most efficient season ever from a true-shooting percentage standpoint at 58 percent. Barrett did have to find his role this season, and safe to say he was able to successfully do so. He turned himself into an extremely useful off-ball player with his cutting, and he played off of Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes pretty perfectly.

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