RJ Barrett’s passing as Toronto Raptors’ main option has been revelatory

TORONTO — RJ Barrett said he intended to dunk. Robert Burns had something to say about the best laid plans, but it was a good impulse.

If you are the primary creator for an NBA team, and you are not a great jump shooter, you should try to get into the paint and force the opposing defence to make a decision. On Friday, Barrett rejected an emerging screen from Toronto Raptors teammate Jakob Poeltl , beat Detroit Pistons star Cade Cunningham to the left, attracting the help of the man who was guarding Poeltl, centre Jalen Duren .

Would Barrett have been able to complete a dunk over or around those two defenders? Probably not. He might have drawn a foul, though, which would have given him a chance to tie the game at the free-throw line.

"Then when I jumped, I saw whoever was guarding Gradey (Dick) was sleeping on the on the weak side, and Gradey kind of slid to the corner, and he was wide open," Barrett said on Friday after the Raptors' lost their first of two heartbreakers on the weekend. "I mean, it's Gradey. So if I see Gradey open for a corner 3, that's a shot we want, that's a shot we want to take. We're definitely a 100 percent living with that shot."

Dick missed, the Raptors lost, and so continues the Raptors' so-close-it-hurts start to the year. After losing in overtime to the Celtics in Boston on Saturday night, the Raptors are now 1-6 in games that have been within five points in the final five minutes of a game this season. That is tied for the league's worst record in those games. Heading into Sunday's games, they had played 36 minutes that meet those qualifications, the sixth-most in the league. It has been rough, if not entirely unexpected.

However, what Barrett did in that moment was promising. He read the play correctly. Dick is shooting just 6 for 19 from the corners this year, but that number should rise as the year goes along. He was the Raptors' best shooter on the court, and Detroit's Malik Beasley inexplicably drifted away from him. It wasn't the most magnificent read in the world, but Barrett has never been known for his passing. He made the right play at the right moment.

That has been part of encouraging evolution in Barrett's game. In the eight games Barrett has played without the injured Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes , effectively making him the team's top playmaker, he has put up 63 assists to just 24 turnovers. Those numbers were bolstered by a career-high 15-assist night, part of his first-career triple-double, against the Celtics. It is more than the Raptors could have asked of Barrett in a heightened role.

It is fair to wonder, though, how will what Barrett is doing now fit into what the Raptors want to do when healthy?

First, let's look at one of Barrett's rare miscues from Saturday. With the game tied in overtime, Barrett faced a similar decision to the one he aced a night earlier. Barrett drove, drawing an extra defender. This time, Barrett didn't see the available pass and Celtics centre Neemias Queta blocked his shot. Jayson Tatum won the game on the next possession with a remarkable shot (In the Last Two Minute Report, the league ruled Tatum travelled on the play, but the Raptors committed a foul away from the ball beforehand.)

As mentioned, the plays were similar, but not the same.

• As you might expect, the Celtics were smarter and more effective in defending the play than the Pistons, forcing Barrett to the right instead of his dominant left hand. In normal circumstances, Barrett's ability to get to his left is incredible, but that also means he has far more reps attacking in that direction. That, and Jaylen Brown staying with Barrett instead of Cunningham losing him, was the most important difference.

• Dick, not Poeltl, was the screening threat, and that threat did nothing. Whereas Duren had to abandon his position to help cut off Barrett, Al Horford , who was guarding Dick, could stay home. It was similar to a play the Raptors often ran with Pascal Siakam handling and Fred VanVleet screening, except Barrett isn't as comfortable going to his midrange jumper as Siakam. Dick needs to improve as a screener to increase the deception needed here.

• The weak side was covered perfectly. Derrick White stayed home on Davion Mitchell , while Poeltl crashed for a potential rebound. Tatum boxed him out.

• That meant the defensive help came from the strong side. That help also came significantly later than it did a night earlier, giving Barrett less time to make the read. Theoretically, that should have been an easier pass for Barrett to make, but see the first bullet point. Queta eventually left Ochai Agbaji , who is shooting 21 for 39 — hey now! — from the corners this year. Barrett did not appear to ever look in that direction.

This is nitpicking, but just a way of examining Barrett as a crunchtime option. However, that is not how Barrett has been most exciting as a creator. As pointed out by Keerthika Uthayakumar, seven of Barrett's 15 assists against the Celtics were to Poeltl. Poeltl had two prolific games over the weekend, putting up 60 total points on 28-of-39 shooting. Barrett was a big part of that.

Barrett's best offensive trait is his physicality, and he has used that to prolong pick-and-roll sequences by getting his defender on his hip or behind him. In a credit to Poeltl, he has been ready to shoot. Over the weekend, Barrett used the left-handed pocket bounce pass, the right-handed pocket bounce pass and used Poeltl's presence as the pair improvised in semi-transition to find him over the top . He also used the threat of Poeltl's push shot to get closer to the rim for his own shot.

"He's a beast," Barrett said. "And we're a team that likes to get in the paint. I think a lot of times we're getting in the paint, we're finding him, and (then) he's gonna float people to death. And then at the same time, if we ... (go) up strong, you miss a shot — the big man tries to go block, he's there for the rebound."

Barrett had some other absolute dimes this weekend: a behind-the-back pass to Agbaji for an open 3 attempt, a lob for Bruno Fernando and a baseline pass to Chris Boucher off a drive to his right . Those are great passes for Barrett to have.

A lot of those types of passes are for main options. If and when Barnes and Quickley return, Barrett will be, at most, an equal-opportunity creator with those two. That is why his interplay with Poeltl is so crucial. The Raptors don't have enough shooting to be a spread pick-and-roll team, but is easy to imagine the ball being dumped into Poeltl after a primary action yields nothing, and Barrett taking a handoff from the big man to run an impromptu pick-and-roll — maybe Dick and Quickley helping create even more space.

If the Raptors are healthier, Barrett's scoring efficiency will probably be more important than his passing. In 32 games with the Raptors last year, Barrett shot 60.5 percent from 2, 39.2 percent from 3 and had a true-shooting percentage, which factors in free-throw attempts, of 61.5. All of those would have been easy career bests for entire seasons. This year, with 30.6 percent usage, a star's offensive load, due to the injury, those numbers are down to 44/31.8/48.9, among his career lows.

The hope is that the return of his fellow members of the core will create easier looks. Still, that Barrett has been able to shine as a passer is just another lesson Darko Rajaković and his coaching staff can take from the injury-filled start to the season.

"I think he's been doing a really good job," Agbaji said during a brief conversation on the west coast. "I was talking to him actually yesterday, just kind of giving him his flowers for showing up and being so positive and a great voice for the team early on. ... Him being here and being a leader and kind of being that that No. 1 guy, that No. 1 option: I know it hasn't been easy for him."

(Photo of RJ Barrett and Cade Cunningham: Andrew Lahodynskyj / )