RJ Barrett is still a points league sleeper with Kawhi Leonard in Toronto

Kawhi Leonard's arrival looked like bad news for RJ Barrett, since the Raptors added a high-volume wing who plays Barrett's positions, but our projections read it the other way. The trade that brought Kawhi back to Toronto sent Brandon Ingram to the Clippers, and Ingram played 77 games for the Raptors last season while taking 16.7 shots a game. Kawhi takes more shots when he plays, but we project him for 61 games, and the Raptors held him out of their first two preseason games while he built up his conditioning, which the team said was not injury related, as Yahoo Sports and Hardwood Heroics both reported. Barrett led Toronto with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting in the preseason win over the Clippers in Vancouver on October 10, according to Raptors Republic and TalkBasket, in one of those games without Kawhi. Kawhi made his debut on October 13 against the Knicks, scoring 21 points in 17 minutes before sitting the second half of a 148-98 win, as Raptors Republic and Yahoo Sports both reported, and Barrett scored 17 in the same game, according to CBS Sports and Raptors Republic.

As of mid-October we project Barrett for 20.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists over 62 games, on 15.8 shots a game against 14.3 last season. That ranks 72nd on our points board under Yahoo's scoring, 63rd under Fantrax's and 90th under ESPN's, against an analysts' points consensus of 83rd. In 9-cat he is 139th on our board and 155th in the consensus. This piece covers where his volume comes from, why the platforms disagree about him, and the one 9-cat build that can use him.

Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.