RJ Barrett couldn’t stop smiling. Barrett is finally back in Toronto, playing for the team he grew up idolizing after four and a half seasons in New York, a year at Duke, and his whole high school career south of the border. “Who doesn’t want to come home?” Barrett said this on Monday, when the Toronto Raptors welcomed him to the team. “Who doesn’t want to come home and play in front of family and friends and try to get a team that I’ve always loved so much back to where they were in 2019?”

The past 48 hours have been a whirlwind for Barrett who said he got the news of his trade Saturday morning just as he woke up. The Knicks had been in Indiana when Barrett found out he and Immanuel Quickley had been dealt to the Raptors for OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa, and Malachi Flynn. “Immediately I was happy,” Barrett said. “I grew up a Raptors fan all my life. So to come here and put this jersey on this is gonna be great.” It’s great now, but Barrett acknowledged a few years ago a return home wouldn’t have been so easy. He no longer has to carry the weight of being the No. 3 pick in the 2019 draft and the expectations of becoming Canada’s next basketball superstar.

Now he’s comfortable being who he is, a young veteran in the NBA who has figured out his routine and knows how to be a professional without the concerns that often accompany a return to one’s hometown. For Barrett, a fresh start will be a welcomed experience. At this point, just hours into his Raptors career, he’s unsure exactly what his role will be in Toronto, but he’ll likely slide into the starting spot vacated by Anunoby and help the Raptors as an offensive playmaker, someone who can bring a little more shot creation to Toronto’s half-court attack than Anunoby did. “I’ve kind of showed who I am over the course of years and just trying to get better … and hopefully unlock some new areas of my game that I haven’t been able to show as much,” Barrett said.

The biggest area of improvement is going to have to be his offensive efficiency. Except for his sophomore season when he shot 40.1% from behind the arc, Barrett has always been a below-average shooter from deep. Across the board, his shooting efficiency has always been below average, at an alarming rate for a player with his usage. But the hope is there’s something more to Barrett’s game and maybe tweaking his usage alongside Scottie Barnes and Quickley in a bigger role can help Barrett expand his repertoire. Despite being in the league for five years, he’s just 23 years old, a year older than Barnes and a year younger than Quickley, and there are certainly reasons to be excited about the possibility of Barrett showing more in Toronto. A homecoming now should only make that easier. Barrett has opted to live downtown for now rather than at his old home so that he can be closer to the gym. He spent Monday morning getting up shots at the OVO practice facility and he’s ready to hit the ground running with whatever Toronto needs of him.

“For me, just come in here with a work ethic, a certain work ethic. I think that’s going to transfer over here, work ethic, focus, and just a will to win,” he said. “Trying to do anything to scratch out these wins in and outplay and outwork other opponents.” For a team that’s lacked some of that grittiness in recent years, Barrett is a welcomed addition and someone who should play a big part in resetting Toronto’s culture moving forward.