NBA Rumors: Toronto Raptors' Play-In Tournament odds take major hit

NBA Rumors: A key injury will likely dig the Toronto Raptors into a deeper early-season hole.

Opening the regular season against four likely playoff teams was not an easy task for the Toronto Raptors. Having to do so without RJ Barrett in the lineup made their chances even slimmer to get off to a hot start to the season. So it's not all that surprising to see that they've gotten off to a 1-3 start to the year. As week 2 of the regular season began, the Raptors got both good and bad news that will have a huge impact on the team.

Keeping things positive, RJ Barrett returned from injury after missing the first three games of the regular season. He's ready to keep the train moving in anticipation of suiting up against the Charlotte Hornets. Barrett finished with 20 points, five rebounds, and three assists in his regular-season debut in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. But while the return of Barrett brought good news to Toronto fans, all of that goodwill is now gone. That's because the Raptors are set to play the next few weeks without Scottie Barnes.

After suffering an orbital bone fracture, Barnes is slated to miss at least the next three weeks. After that, he will be re-evaluated and could possibly return. Even if it is just three weeks, this is a huge loss for the Raptors.

The loss of Scottie Barnes

Heading into this season, the hope for the Raptors was that they could jump into the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament race. I'm not sure if they have enough juice to compete for a top-6 seed in the East but they certainly have enough talent to make a case to finish as a 7-10 seed. But a deep early-season hole will do this team no favors.

Without Barnes, the heart and soul of their offense, the Raptors are almost certainly going to struggle to remain afloat in his absence. For a team that already doesn't have a ton of playmaking, Barnes was the team's primary playmaker and is averaging a team-best six assists per game - not to mention he was also one of the team's leading scorers.

In his absence, Barrett and Immanuel Quickley will certainly have to take bigger roles if the Raptors are going to have any shot at remaining a shouting distance away from a top-10 seed in the East. The season is still young but these next few weeks could prove important if they want to seriously make a run to the postseason this year.

Even if Barnes is able to return on the short end of this timeline, he's still likely to miss anywhere between 10-15 games.