RJ Barrett

[King Ken]

I don't think that's a bad comparison. People act like DD looked like this his entire career. Not to mention it takes time to learn to shoot at an elite NBA level. Right now he's getting by just well with what he has, I think he can become a better shooter and one he does will be an allstar caliber player. Cant really predict much more for anybody in this class with any level of certainty.

He is a much better prospect than DD. It's just what we all see his potential as right now without some major improvement. To me, the prospect I am comparing to DD is Romeo Langford.

no way. Langford is more skilled now than what DD was. Much more of a playmaker. DD a better athlete.

Langford skill is crafty like DD was. I don't see a ton of advance skill from Romeo outside of finishing at the basket which DD showed. Both players aren't exactly polished. Langford is not explosive or has the same movement vert but Romeo has better lateral quickness and driving ability than DD. Both are slashers without elite athletic ability on the dribble drive but both drive often. Both as prospects aren't shooters at all.

Both are around the same range for me as prospect. Raw players who can be potential All Stars. Neither is close to R.J. for me as a prospect. R.J. can play and score in the NBA right now. I think R.J. can give you 16/5/5 right now in the NBA. Romeo and DD out of college won't be that in their 1st year.

[clyde21]

He is a much better prospect than DD. It's just what we all see his potential as right now without some major improvement. To me, the prospect I am comparing to DD is Romeo Langford.

no way. Langford is more skilled now than what DD was. Much more of a playmaker. DD a better athlete.

Langford skill is crafty like DD was. I don't see a ton of advance skill from Romeo outside of finishing at the basket which DD showed. Both players aren't exactly polished. Langford is not explosive or has the same movement vert but Romeo has better lateral quickness and driving ability than DD. Both are slashers without elite athletic ability on the dribble drive but both drive often. Both as prospects aren't shooters at all.

Both are around the same range for me as prospect. Raw players who can be potential All Stars. Neither is close to R.J. for me as a prospect. R.J. can play and score in the NBA right now. I think R.J. can give you 16/5/5 right now in the NBA. Romeo and DD out of college won't be that in their 1st year.

DD was more about athleticism and much less refined. Langford doesn't have that athleticism and relies more on being deliberate and skillful in getting space. And again, a big differentiator here is their playmaking. DD had a terrible assist to TO ratio at USC.

[King Ken]

no way. Langford is more skilled now than what DD was. Much more of a playmaker. DD a better athlete.

Langford skill is crafty like DD was. I don't see a ton of advance skill from Romeo outside of finishing at the basket which DD showed. Both players aren't exactly polished. Langford is not explosive or has the same movement vert but Romeo has better lateral quickness and driving ability than DD. Both are slashers without elite athletic ability on the dribble drive but both drive often. Both as prospects aren't shooters at all.

Both are around the same range for me as prospect. Raw players who can be potential All Stars. Neither is close to R.J. for me as a prospect. R.J. can play and score in the NBA right now. I think R.J. can give you 16/5/5 right now in the NBA. Romeo and DD out of college won't be that in their 1st year.

DD was more about athleticism and much less refined. Langford doesn't have that athleticism and relies more on being deliberate and skillful in getting space. And again, a big differentiator here is their playmaking. DD had a terrible assist to TO ratio at USC.

I spoke about DD's athletic ability earlier in this thread. People confuse at the rim athletic ability with functional athletic ability. Here is an article on it: https://www.raptorshq.com/2015/10/19/9504539/the-myth-of-demar-derozans-athleticism-toronto-raptors

I agree Romeo is a better passer with better vision but the comparison isn't going to be perfect. At the end of the day, Romeo is his own player, as is DD.


They weren't on the same exact team.

[clyde21]

Langford skill is crafty like DD was. I don't see a ton of advance skill from Romeo outside of finishing at the basket which DD showed. Both players aren't exactly polished. Langford is not explosive or has the same movement vert but Romeo has better lateral quickness and driving ability than DD. Both are slashers without elite athletic ability on the dribble drive but both drive often. Both as prospects aren't shooters at all.

Both are around the same range for me as prospect. Raw players who can be potential All Stars. Neither is close to R.J. for me as a prospect. R.J. can play and score in the NBA right now. I think R.J. can give you 16/5/5 right now in the NBA. Romeo and DD out of college won't be that in their 1st year.

DD was more about athleticism and much less refined. Langford doesn't have that athleticism and relies more on being deliberate and skillful in getting space. And again, a big differentiator here is their playmaking. DD had a terrible assist to TO ratio at USC.

I spoke about DD's athletic ability earlier in this thread. People confuse at the rim athletic ability with functional athletic ability. Here is an article on it: https://www.raptorshq.com/2015/10/19/9504539/the-myth-of-demar-derozans-athleticism-toronto-raptors

I agree Romeo is a better passer with better vision but the comparison isn't going to be perfect. At the end of the day, Romeo is his own player, as is DD.


They weren't on the same exact team.

i get that, but I disagree that Langford is a better comp. Barrett is more in that archetype.

[King Ken]

DD was more about athleticism and much less refined. Langford doesn't have that athleticism and relies more on being deliberate and skillful in getting space. And again, a big differentiator here is their playmaking. DD had a terrible assist to TO ratio at USC.

I spoke about DD's athletic ability earlier in this thread. People confuse at the rim athletic ability with functional athletic ability. Here is an article on it: https://www.raptorshq.com/2015/10/19/9504539/the-myth-of-demar-derozans-athleticism-toronto-raptors

I agree Romeo is a better passer with better vision but the comparison isn't going to be perfect. At the end of the day, Romeo is his own player, as is DD.


They weren't on the same exact team.

i get that, but I disagree that Langford is a better comp. Barrett is more in that archetype.

I don't see it. I see a player that's more closer to DD right now than a player close to him as a prospect.

[clyde21]

I spoke about DD's athletic ability earlier in this thread. People confuse at the rim athletic ability with functional athletic ability. Here is an article on it: https://www.raptorshq.com/2015/10/19/9504539/the-myth-of-demar-derozans-athleticism-toronto-raptors

I agree Romeo is a better passer with better vision but the comparison isn't going to be perfect. At the end of the day, Romeo is his own player, as is DD.


They weren't on the same exact team.

i get that, but I disagree that Langford is a better comp. Barrett is more in that archetype.

I don't see it. I see a player that's more closer to DD right now than a player close to him as a prospect.

that's what I mean. I see RJ Barrett being a DD type/level player in the league.

[King Ken]

i get that, but I disagree that Langford is a better comp. Barrett is more in that archetype.

I don't see it. I see a player that's more closer to DD right now than a player close to him as a prospect.

that's what I mean. I see RJ Barrett being a DD type/level player in the league.

I think he can be better but I think his potential is closer to Tatum more than DD. DD is has had a great career so far. He has more WS than Kyrie.

[916fan]

I feel like people are overthinking on RJ. I think people criticize him for being too NBA ready. Why is that? He has room to grow just like every other freshmen. I felt like Doncic got the same treatment last year. Doncic is a far superior prospect(STILL BLOWS MY MIND 3 TEAMS PASSED ON HIM INCLUDING MINES, I DIE A LITTLE EVERY TIME). However, both players are uniqurely polished in their own rights and as a result, we start nitpicking on the things they can't do rather than focusing on the things they can do.

My biggest concern with him has more to do with FTA than anything else in his game. Why does he get to the line as little as he does?

[The-Power]

I think people criticize him for being too NBA ready.

Who does that? I think people in this thread have been very clear about what they dislike about him and none of that had to do with him being ‘too NBA ready’ as far as I could see.

[Marcus]

I feel like people are overthinking on RJ. I think people criticize him for being too NBA ready. Why is that? He has room to grow just like every other freshmen. I felt like Doncic got the same treatment last year. Doncic is a far superior prospect(STILL BLOWS MY MIND 3 TEAMS PASSED ON HIM INCLUDING MINES, I DIE A LITTLE EVERY TIME). However, both players are uniqurely polished in their own rights and as a result, we start nitpicking on the things they can't do rather than focusing on the things they can do.

My biggest concern with him has more to do with FTA than anything else in his game. Why does he get to the line as little as he does?

Tell me what you think he's strength and weaknesses are.

[tidho]

...we start nitpicking on the things they can't do rather than focusing on the things they can do...

That's the nature of the beast. I would take RJ over Zion, and when I list reasons why people act like i'm crucifying Zion. We're talking about top 5 locks here, of course they can play, the only way to start separating them is to pick them apart for what they can't do.

RJ is phenomenal, and he's going to be even better in the NBA (if for no other reason than the 3 second rule). He's got to work on his shot selection, and with that hopefully his efficiency rises, but he's going to be a star. Coach K knows it, there's a reason he keeps RJ on the floor when the other guys sit.

[Funcrusher]

...we start nitpicking on the things they can't do rather than focusing on the things they can do...

That's the nature of the beast. I would take RJ over Zion, and when I list reasons why people act like i'm crucifying Zion. We're talking about top 5 locks here, of course they can play, the only way to start separating them is to pick them apart for what they can't do.

RJ is phenomenal, and he's going to be even better in the NBA (if for no other reason than the 3 second rule). He's got to work on his shot selection, and with that hopefully his efficiency rises, but he's going to be a star. Coach K knows it, there's a reason he keeps RJ on the floor when the other guys sit.

lmao, wut?

[Ruzious]

...we start nitpicking on the things they can't do rather than focusing on the things they can do...

That's the nature of the beast. I would take RJ over Zion, and when I list reasons why people act like i'm crucifying Zion. We're talking about top 5 locks here, of course they can play, the only way to start separating them is to pick them apart for what they can't do.

RJ is phenomenal, and he's going to be even better in the NBA (if for no other reason than the 3 second rule). He's got to work on his shot selection, and with that hopefully his efficiency rises, but he's going to be a star. Coach K knows it, there's a reason he keeps RJ on the floor when the other guys sit.

RJ is real good, but his scoring inefficiency - which he can certainly improve on with experience - makes it impossible to label him phenominal, imo. He takes something like 7 shots a game more than Zion, and Zion is so much more efficient. Zion is a legit phenom - he's absolutely amazing. Even with his 6'5ish height, he's an outstanding defender. Sorry to go on about Zion in the RJ thread, but Zion's so far ahead of everyone in this draft, that it's almost unfair to other players to compare them to him.

[NBA Fan 1234]

...we start nitpicking on the things they can't do rather than focusing on the things they can do...

That's the nature of the beast. I would take RJ over Zion, and when I list reasons why people act like i'm crucifying Zion. We're talking about top 5 locks here, of course they can play, the only way to start separating them is to pick them apart for what they can't do.

RJ is phenomenal, and he's going to be even better in the NBA (if for no other reason than the 3 second rule). He's got to work on his shot selection, and with that hopefully his efficiency rises, but he's going to be a star. Coach K knows it, there's a reason he keeps RJ on the floor when the other guys sit.

RJ is real good, but his scoring inefficiency - which he can certainly improve on with experience - makes it impossible to label him phenominal, imo. He takes something like 7 shots a game more than Zion, and Zion is so much more efficient. Zion is a legit phenom - he's absolutely amazing. Even with his 6'5ish height, he's an outstanding defender. Sorry to go on about Zion in the RJ thread, but Zion's so far ahead of everyone in this draft, that it's almost unfair to other players to compare them to him.

I fail to see any reason whatsoever to take RJ above Zion. None. There is a MUCH closer gap between Romeo and RJ than than RJ and Zion...but part of that is also because Romeo and RJ are much closer than most are willing to admit.

[Duke4life831]

I give RJ a ton of credit for the Clemson game, played much more within the team (still had 2-3 come on shots, but you can live with that).

But the issue I then have with his game against Clemson, when he isn't a super high usage guy, he really doesn't make much of an impact on the game. I think he passed the ball really well (best game for him in that category), he seems to be a really good rebounder for his size every game. But overall just very little impact.

My question for him is what role is he going to have in the NBA? Do you just hand the keys over to him from day 1 and hope he works out the kinks. Or do you try and play him in more of a team system. If you do that, what kind of value does he really bring?

[Duke4life831]

That's the nature of the beast. I would take RJ over Zion, and when I list reasons why people act like i'm crucifying Zion. We're talking about top 5 locks here, of course they can play, the only way to start separating them is to pick them apart for what they can't do.

RJ is phenomenal, and he's going to be even better in the NBA (if for no other reason than the 3 second rule). He's got to work on his shot selection, and with that hopefully his efficiency rises, but he's going to be a star. Coach K knows it, there's a reason he keeps RJ on the floor when the other guys sit.

RJ is real good, but his scoring inefficiency - which he can certainly improve on with experience - makes it impossible to label him phenominal, imo. He takes something like 7 shots a game more than Zion, and Zion is so much more efficient. Zion is a legit phenom - he's absolutely amazing. Even with his 6'5ish height, he's an outstanding defender. Sorry to go on about Zion in the RJ thread, but Zion's so far ahead of everyone in this draft, that it's almost unfair to other players to compare them to him.

I fail to see any reason whatsoever to take RJ above Zion. None. There is a MUCH closer gap between Romeo and RJ than than RJ and Zion...but part of that is also because Romeo and RJ are much closer than most are willing to admit.

Ya it seems like with each passing day the gap between Zion and everyone else grows more and more. I think the gap between him and everyone else might end up bigger than AD to MKG.

2-7 should be very interesting though.

[drosereturn]

...we start nitpicking on the things they can't do rather than focusing on the things they can do...

That's the nature of the beast. I would take RJ over Zion, and when I list reasons why people act like i'm crucifying Zion. We're talking about top 5 locks here, of course they can play, the only way to start separating them is to pick them apart for what they can't do.

RJ is phenomenal, and he's going to be even better in the NBA (if for no other reason than the 3 second rule). He's got to work on his shot selection, and with that hopefully his efficiency rises, but he's going to be a star. Coach K knows it, there's a reason he keeps RJ on the floor when the other guys sit.

RJ is real good, but his scoring inefficiency - which he can certainly improve on with experience - makes it impossible to label him phenominal, imo. He takes something like 7 shots a game more than Zion, and Zion is so much more efficient. Zion is a legit phenom - he's absolutely amazing. Even with his 6'5ish height, he's an outstanding defender. Sorry to go on about Zion in the RJ thread, but Zion's so far ahead of everyone in this draft, that it's almost unfair to other players to compare them to him.

Let's conclude this RJ vs Zion talk right now. The main reason Zion looks more dominant is he is making Youtube dunks every game in a weak D1 college competition. If he was that great, why wasnt he the number 1 prospect in hs? If I remember correctly, he had the same potential back then and was overhyped for a while until it completely died.
Now, I am not trying to diss Zion and he is currently the favorite to go #1. But teams like Chicago that need a sf could actually pick RJ as number 1 since he fits the mold of a modern two way player natural sf. Also, I really think RJ will be a better NBA player than in college and vice versa for Zion. Still, Zion might end up being the better player but who knows? Even stranger outcomes has happened and it would be foolish to downplay the other prospect just to support your favorite one.

[The-Power]

The main reason Zion looks more dominant is he is making Youtube dunks every game in a weak D1 college competition. If he was that great, why wasnt he the number 1 prospect in hs?

Zion looks more dominant because he is more dominant. On both ends, period. And he wasn't ranked #1 because people weren't sure how his game translates to college because of the competition he faced. Well, fair to say it translated. Barrett was hyped because he was able to drag inferior talent to great achievements, most notably with his national team. Now, on a dominant team, he still has the same approach which becomes unhealthy in this environment and hints at potential future issues with him, and he has struggled with his efficiency against good college teams.

So his stock naturally fell while Zion's rose. Not sure what's so hard to understand about that. What we've gathered in terms of video footage since the college season started is in many cases more – and certainly more relevant – than what we've had from these guys during their entire high school career. Of course assessments of have changed, it would be foolish to mostly go by high school hype at this point. Sure, some players are given some more time due to their high school performances but this doesn't really apply here. You make it sound as if Barrett was a clearly more hyped or more highly ranked prospect when it was always close between them last year – and Zion has just been much better in college up until now.

And it's really funny that you talk about ‘weak D1 college competition’ because there are a number of issues with your argument. First, Zion destroys Barrett against the very same competition. If it's so weak, why isn't Barrett just as or even more dominant? Second, Duke has played a number of really good college teams and guess what, Zion looks even more dominant than Barrett in comparison and doesn't seem to be bothered by better competition at all. So your point really doesn't hold water. And lastly, how on earth do you talk about weak college competition as a reason to not buy into the Zion-hype and then refer to what they did, or how they were perceived, in high school? You know, a place in which the competition is much, much, much worse than in college.

[Don7]

Read on Twitter

dude

[Ruzious]

The main reason Zion looks more dominant is he is making Youtube dunks every game in a weak D1 college competition. If he was that great, why wasnt he the number 1 prospect in hs?

Zion looks more dominant because he is more dominant. On both ends, period. And he wasn't ranked #1 because people weren't sure how his game translates to college because of the competition he faced. Well, fair to say it translated. Barrett was hyped because he was able to drag inferior talent to great achievements, most notably with his national team. Now, on a dominant team, he still has the same approach which becomes unhealthy in this environment and hints at potential future issues with him, and he has struggled with his efficiency against good college teams.

So his stock naturally fell while Zion's rose. Not sure what's so hard to understand about that. What we've gathered in terms of video footage since the college season started is in many cases more – and certainly more relevant – than what we've had from these guys during their entire high school career. Of course assessments of have changed, it would be foolish to mostly go by high school hype at this point. Sure, some players are given some more time due to their high school performances but this doesn't really apply here. You make it sound as if Barrett was a clearly more hyped or more highly ranked prospect when it was always close between them last year – and Zion has just been much better in college up until now.

And it's really funny that you talk about ‘weak D1 college competition’ because there are a number of issues with your argument. First, Zion destroys Barrett against the very same competition. If it's so weak, why isn't Barrett just as or even more dominant? Second, Duke has played a number of really good college teams and guess what, Zion looks even more dominant than Barrett in comparison and doesn't seem to be bothered by better competition at all. So your point really doesn't hold water. And lastly, how on earth do you talk about weak college competition as a reason to not buy into the Zion-hype and then refer to what they did, or how they were perceived, in high school? You know, a place in which the competition is much, much, much worse than in college.

And last night's game was a good example. RJ had a very nice game, but Zion owned the game. He scored 9 more points while taking 1 less shot. He was a monster on the boards. He blocked 4 shots. RJ had 2 more assists, but that's part of him having the ball more.