RJ Barrett is Criminally Underrated

[tsherkin]

How good can RJ be now that we have another offensive weapon in the starting lineup + other guys back healthy + our hungry tough gritty young stars looking to make a name

We have at least 3 other starters who are willing passers. RJ's scoring came a lot from a) grabbing a rebound and scoring on the fast break, slashing to the basket and hitting the open 3. He can move without the ball and will benefit from guys hooking up back door or as a pressure release valve when Scottie and BI are doubled.

As the only guy constantly puts pressure on the basket as a downhill threat...he is someone opposing defences will have to keep an eye on.

The best-case scenario for us is that he reclaims basic competence at the line and looks like he did right after the trade... almost never shooting outside of 10 feet except for some assisted 3s. That wouldn't be too bad at all.

[JB7]

How good can RJ be now that we have another offensive weapon in the starting lineup + other guys back healthy + our hungry tough gritty young stars looking to make a name

We have at least 3 other starters who are willing passers. RJ's scoring came a lot from a) grabbing a rebound and scoring on the fast break, slashing to the basket and hitting the open 3. He can move without the ball and will benefit from guys hooking up back door or as a pressure release valve when Scottie and BI are doubled.

As the only guy constantly puts pressure on the basket as a downhill threat...he is someone opposing defences will have to keep an eye on.

The best-case scenario for us is that he reclaims basic competence at the line and looks like he did right after the trade... almost never shooting outside of 10 feet except for some assisted 3s. That wouldn't be too bad at all.

I mean, with that short period of time, they showed him the template for what works for his game. When he stuck to that template, he shot less, but still had his highest scoring output, and great efficiency. A good place to be going into negotiations for a new contract.

[tsherkin]

I mean, with that short period of time, they showed him the template for what works for his game. When he stuck to that template, he shot less, but still had his highest scoring output, and great efficiency. A good place to be going into negotiations for a new contract.

I certainly wouldn't mind. Reduce volume, emphasize tailored shot types/locations, get as much passing support and spacing as possible. With RJ, at least it seems to work, as opposed to with Scottie, so we might as well see, right? I would love for RJ to be a success story with us.

[ConSarnit]

if were trying to win this year im wondering why didn't we attempt to flip RJ for NormGod if he was basically given away?

that could've been a nice upgrade and improve our shooting concerns.

Damn that would've been a good one.

None of the parties would have been interested in RJ because he doesn’t accomplish any of their goals.

LAC: got big man depth (Collins) and also opened up guard minutes for Beal

MIA: dumped bad money for a useful and expiring Powell

UTA: saved money and got a 2nd

None of those teams would have wanted to take on RJ’s extra year or salary.

[NBA Sheady]

I hope he looks great with a reduced role and if not I hope we can use his lack of impact to sell him on a bench role.

[tsherkin]

I hope he looks great with a reduce role and if not I hope we can use his lack of impact to sell him on a bench role.

I think he probably will.

I think he struggles once he starts trying to float real volume, and he was shooting about 17 shots per game for us this past season. The year before, we had him SMASHING shots in the RA, barely shooting at all from 10 feet out to the 3pt line, and taking 3s.

This year, we should have the luxury to drop down his volume and curate his shots a little more. His rim pressure and foul draw is significant, and even though he isn't a stunner at the rim, just raw volume of him shooting even 10% worse than league average there should float his FG% quite nicely. As it did right after the trade. RJ shot 55.3% FG for us after the trade on 15.4 FGA/g, with over 43% of his shots coming inside the RA.

So with BI, with Quick, maybe with some extra shooting support from Gradey and Battle and whatever else we can throw out there, there's a chance we can really deploy him in optimal fashion again.

[Indeed]

if were trying to win this year im wondering why didn't we attempt to flip RJ for NormGod if he was basically given away?

that could've been a nice upgrade and improve our shooting concerns.

Damn that would've been a good one.

None of the parties would have been interested in RJ because he doesn’t accomplish any of their goals.

LAC: got big man depth (Collins) and also opened up guard minutes for Beal

MIA: dumped bad money for a useful and expiring Powell

UTA: saved money and got a 2nd

None of those teams would have wanted to take on RJ’s extra year or salary.

We shall see next year comes free agency, I would be surprised he is not better than Quickley, and not get interested by teams.

Again, same thing as people said about Siakam, although Barrett is far from Siakam level, but the same reason we want our players out.

[dballislife]

the main thing with me here is i dont think this is the best of our boy rj...hes only 1 year older than scottie and scottie still has potential to polish things up and take a step and improve...i mean look around guys are having their best years at ages 28-32 all around the league, rj will play next entire season at age 25

his passing his ball handling and d has improved with us, hes improving bit by bit as a player, he could still improve and his best years could be just ahead of him

[Thaddy]

the main thing with me here is i dont think this is the best of our boy rj...hes only 1 year older than scottie and scottie still has potential polish things up and take a step and improve...i mean look around guys are having their best years at ages 28-32 all around the league, rj will play next entire season at age 25

his passing his ball handling and d has improved with us, hes improving bit by bit as a player, he could still improve and his best years could be just ahead of him

There's some hope that he's hyper efficient like he was when he started here. He can shoot 3s at a decent percentage and apply rim pressure. He just has to pick his spots and not force things. He's similar to Powell in that aspect.

The issue is the defense. He improves last year but it needs to be built on. The best case scenario would be he raises his value and we trade him for a package of picks and smaller contracts to help with a future deal.

[mihaic]

the main thing with me here is i dont think this is the best of our boy rj...hes only 1 year older than scottie and scottie still has potential polish things up and take a step and improve...i mean look around guys are having their best years at ages 28-32 all around the league, rj will play next entire season at age 25

his passing his ball handling and d has improved with us, hes improving bit by bit as a player, he could still improve and his best years could be just ahead of him

There's some hope that he's hyper efficient like he was when he started here. He can shoot 3s at a decent percentage and apply rim pressure. He just has to pick his spots and not force things. He's similar to Powell in that aspect.

The issue is the defense. He improves last year but it needs to be built on. The best case scenario would be he raises his value and we trade him for a package of picks and smaller contracts to help with a future deal.

The best scenario is he raises his value by reducing shots, and hitting FTs, and stays with the Raptors.