RJ Barrett to miss rest of preseason with AC joint sprain

The Toronto Raptors announced Tuesday that RJ Barrett will miss the rest of the preseason, at a minimum, with a right acromioclavicular joint sprain that he suffered in Sunday’s 125-98 preseason victory over the Washington Wizards.

Toronto said Barrett’s status would be updated after the preseason. The Raptors begin their regular season on Oct. 23 against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

More commonly known as an AC joint, the injury is to the joint in the shoulder where the collarbone meets the shoulder blade.

Barrett, 24, suffered the injury late in the second quarter, immediately checking out and going to the locker room. He didn’t return to the game. Barrett went 7-for-10 from the field in 14 minutes Sunday, scoring 17 points before suffering the injury.

The Toronto-area native returned home last season in the deal between the Raptors and New York Knicks that saw OG Anunoby wind up in New York and Barrett and Immanuel Quickley head to Toronto. After Quickley was signed to a five-year, $175 million contract this summer as a restricted free agent, the Raptors are hoping to have the combination of rising All-Star Scottie Barnes — who signed his own max extension this summer — Quickley and Barrett lead the team into their next era of contending basketball.

Barrett, who played for Team Canada in its return to the Olympics this summer in Paris, is entering his sixth NBA season after he was the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. Barrett averaged 20.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists across 58 games last season with the Knicks and Raptors and sports career averages of 18.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.9 assists.