‘Look at how far we’ve come.’ It’s pretty cool.’
RJ Barrett and A.J. Lawson go way back, which made Monday night extra special for the two Toronto Raptors teammates.
Lawson, from Brampton, erupted for a career-high 32 points and 12 rebounds, hitting seven three-pointers in a win over the Washington Wizards, while Barrett, from Mississauga, had 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Barrett actually assisted on four of Lawson’s three-pointers, including the one that got him to 30 points.
The duo had played together on the Brampton Warriors club team and in middle school as youths, and then for a time at St. Marcellinus Secondary in Mississauga before Barrett finished up in Florida before heading to Duke.
Lawson is a popular teammate with many Raptors, but there’s obviously something extra because of his history with Barrett.
Barrett remembered watching Raptors games with Lawson and even playing in a tournament at Scotiabank Arena when they were 14. He never could have imagined doing it again in the NBA.
“Never, definitely not. It’s an honour, very happy to be here and especially to be here with him, it’s crazy,” Barrett said.
“So now to just be here, but on the Raptors, it’s just like, ‘Look at how far we’ve come.’ It’s pretty cool.”
Lawson felt the same way. “It’s like a full-circle moment. We’ve been playing together (childhood),” Lawson said. “What a blessing it is. The odds of that happening is rare. So, you know, just live in the moment. Be grateful for the moment. Just keep working hard. We’re both hard workers him, and it’s gonna be many more moments to come.”
Barrett had the media laughing when he told a story about how Lawson was smaller than most of his teammates as a teenager, but was insistent that wouldn’t always be the case.
“I don’t know if everybody knows, but he was like short the whole time growing up. So he was short and, like, really fast,” Barrett said. “So he would just get, like, five, six steals a game, and then he could always shoot. So it’s just, it’s funny because I’m seeing him now … does the exact same thing you did when we were younger. He’s just six seven now,” Barrett said.
“He was short like I said, but then I left to go to Montverde. Next time I saw him he was my height and I would say: ‘What the hell is going on here?’
“And he would always say like: ‘Watch, I’m going to get tall, I’m going to get tall, and we would all laugh at him, so it’s crazy,’” Barrett said.
Just like scoring 32 points at home as a Raptor was.
PAIN NOW, GAIN LATER?
Toronto has had all kinds of tight games lately, including a buzzer-beating win, another that was ruled off after instant replay and an overtime loss. Head coach Darko Rajakovic thinks the experience will help his players moving forward.
“I think it’s amazing. I think it’s exactly what we need right now, for guys to be in close games, to learn how to close games, learn what it looks like,” Rajakovic said, before alluding to his usage of most of his roster, depending on the night.
“It’s different players, as you can see, every night it’s going to be different guys out there, I think it’s paramount to put them in those situations and for them to figure out, to learn. Sometimes it’s going to work out, sometimes it’s not going to work out but that experience, you cannot replicate it in any practice. So just any experience of being in that situation is amazing investment for the future of the organization,” Rajakovic said.
Toronto has gone 7-7 this season in games decided by three points or fewer.
CAVALRY NOT YET ON WAY
Toronto is down its top three options at shooting guard, Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji and Ja’Kobe Walter, and it doesn’t sound like the return of any of them is imminent.
Walter was most recently hurt, injuring his hip flexor and is not yet doing on-court work. Dick, the usual starter, at least has progressed to getting up some shots, as he did pre-game shooting Monday. However, Rajakovic said it’s just spot-up shooting and a bit of straight-line running right now, with more of an update not coming until about a week which will determine “how he’s trending.”
Agbaji is “progressing well,” but not yet able to get full contact. “We did not do any team practice yet, so we’re gonna slowly ramp him up,” Rajakovic said. “He missed some time over here (five straight and all but two minutes of the game he got injured). We want to be smart with him, getting him back in the lineup.”
WHAT ABOUT INGRAM?
The team’s big acquisition, Brandon Ingram, is still doing individual work and an update on his ankle injury won’t be coming until the midpoint of next week.
“I think at this point, getting his health, to get him the right spot is the most important thing, learning our system,” Rajakovic said. “He’s doing a very good job of asking questions, of being integrated in what we’re trying to accomplish on offensive and defensive end. Doing a very good job in his workouts, anything that he’s allowed to do now at this point he’s doing a really good job there and he has a chance to be in all of our meetings, every conversation, practice with team so he can scan and learn. And he’s aware of the style of game we want to play here.”
@WolstatSun