Official RJ Barrett Thread Part 2

[mademan]

RJ is who he is and thats a bench player in this league. He doesnt play smart basketball and he doesnt defend. There are times where he's unstoppable going downhill, and thats valuable, but he doesnt do enough complementary things to be a 30+ min starter on a team hoping to win in the playoffs. It's far from clear to me he even helps teams win in the RS

Thankfully, this draft is full of young wings and i imagine we'll get one of them. RJ isnt a long term Raptor, imo

Doesn't do enough complementary? How many NBA players are above 20/6/6... good lord.

Some of you fans get real stuck in weird takes.

He doesnt defend. He doesnt space the floor. Those are the 2 most important complementary attributes and he's bad at both. This is not a weird take and is only considered so cause you cut off half of what i said..."on a team hoping to win in the playoffs".

It is no surprise at all that, going on 6 years now, his teams are either better with him on the bench or neutral (including this season). And its because he's not a good complementary player and not good as an on-ball star.

lol weird take. RJ's entire young career has shown him to be the typical inefficient counting stats non-winning player that has fair weather fans saying "but look at his 20-6-6". He's not good and there's never been any evidence to the contrary

[Johnny Bball]

RJ is who he is and thats a bench player in this league. He doesnt play smart basketball and he doesnt defend. There are times where he's unstoppable going downhill, and thats valuable, but he doesnt do enough complementary things to be a 30+ min starter on a team hoping to win in the playoffs. It's far from clear to me he even helps teams win in the RS

Thankfully, this draft is full of young wings and i imagine we'll get one of them. RJ isnt a long term Raptor, imo

Doesn't do enough complementary? How many NBA players are above 20/6/6... good lord.

Some of you fans get real stuck in weird takes.

He doesnt defend. He doesnt space the floor. Those are the 2 most important complementary attributes and he's bad at both. This is not a weird take and is only considered so cause you cut off half of what i said..."on a team hoping to win in the playoffs".

It is no surprise at all that, going on 6 years now, his teams are either better with him on the bench or neutral (including this season). And its because he's not a good complementary player and not good as an on-ball star.

lol weird take. RJ's entire young career has shown him to be the typical inefficient counting stats non-winning player that has fair weather fans saying "but look at his 20-6-6". He's not good and there's never been any evidence to the contrary

Wrong and wrong. I will admit like everyone else he's not a great defender but he's not awful either. He absolutely spaces the floor. RJ is not inefficient. Might want to get over it already.

Lol @ "he's not good". Yikes.

[mademan]

Doesn't do enough complementary? How many NBA players are above 20/6/6... good lord.

Some of you fans get real stuck in weird takes.

He doesnt defend. He doesnt space the floor. Those are the 2 most important complementary attributes and he's bad at both. This is not a weird take and is only considered so cause you cut off half of what i said..."on a team hoping to win in the playoffs".

It is no surprise at all that, going on 6 years now, his teams are either better with him on the bench or neutral (including this season). And its because he's not a good complementary player and not good as an on-ball star.

lol weird take. RJ's entire young career has shown him to be the typical inefficient counting stats non-winning player that has fair weather fans saying "but look at his 20-6-6". He's not good and there's never been any evidence to the contrary

Wrong and wrong. I will admit like everyone else he's not a great defender but he's not awful either. He absolutely spaces the floor. RJ is not inefficient. Might want to get over it already.

Lol @ "he's not good". Yikes.

He's not inefficient? lmfao. At the very least, the other ones cant be proven (impact stats tell you what you need to know about the shooting and defense value he provides), but effeciency is easily measurable. He has been, for his career, year over year, significantly below league average efficiency. He has had exactly 1 year matching league average TS% boosted by him shooting at levels from every spot on the floor he's never matched before (a hot streak).

He is an inefficient player. There is just no argument to be had here....yikes

[Johnny Bball]

He doesnt defend. He doesnt space the floor. Those are the 2 most important complementary attributes and he's bad at both. This is not a weird take and is only considered so cause you cut off half of what i said..."on a team hoping to win in the playoffs".

It is no surprise at all that, going on 6 years now, his teams are either better with him on the bench or neutral (including this season). And its because he's not a good complementary player and not good as an on-ball star.

lol weird take. RJ's entire young career has shown him to be the typical inefficient counting stats non-winning player that has fair weather fans saying "but look at his 20-6-6". He's not good and there's never been any evidence to the contrary

Wrong and wrong. I will admit like everyone else he's not a great defender but he's not awful either. He absolutely spaces the floor. RJ is not inefficient. Might want to get over it already.

Lol @ "he's not good". Yikes.

He's not inefficient? lmfao. At the very least, the other ones cant be proven (impact stats tell you what you need to know about the shooting and defense value he provides), but effeciency is easily measurable. He has been, for his career, year over year, significantly below league average efficiency. He has had exactly 1 year matching league average TS% boosted by him shooting at levels from every spot on the floor he's never matched before (a hot streak).

He is an inefficient player. There is just no argument to be had here....yikes

His TS% for the year is .550. He had a really rough time without Barnes/IQ and its already climbed back up to respectable. WTF are you even talking about.

[mademan]

Wrong and wrong. I will admit like everyone else he's not a great defender but he's not awful either. He absolutely spaces the floor. RJ is not inefficient. Might want to get over it already.

Lol @ "he's not good". Yikes.

He's not inefficient? lmfao. At the very least, the other ones cant be proven (impact stats tell you what you need to know about the shooting and defense value he provides), but effeciency is easily measurable. He has been, for his career, year over year, significantly below league average efficiency. He has had exactly 1 year matching league average TS% boosted by him shooting at levels from every spot on the floor he's never matched before (a hot streak).

He is an inefficient player. There is just no argument to be had here....yikes

His TS% for the year is .550. He had a really rough time without Barnes/IQ and its already climbed back up to respectable. WTF are you even talking about.

His TS% over his entire career genius. You know you can look at other years too, right? Just toggle down

Ineffeicent literally every year of his career but the problem is IQ/Barnes being out for a bit. LMFAO

[MEDIC]

Great game.by RJ so far. Stepping up.against his old team.

[MEDIC]

His TS% over his entire career genius. You know you can look at other years too, right? Just toggle down

Ineffeicent literally every year of his career but the problem is IQ/Barnes being out for a bit. LMFAO

Some of you guys are like an ex, still.talking about something you said 6 years ago.

Best advice is to live in the moment & look to build towards the future.

Its a different time & a different circumstance. Evaluate RJ for what he accomplishes over the next 2 seasons with the Raps.

[Johnny Bball]

He's not inefficient? lmfao. At the very least, the other ones cant be proven (impact stats tell you what you need to know about the shooting and defense value he provides), but effeciency is easily measurable. He has been, for his career, year over year, significantly below league average efficiency. He has had exactly 1 year matching league average TS% boosted by him shooting at levels from every spot on the floor he's never matched before (a hot streak).

He is an inefficient player. There is just no argument to be had here....yikes

His TS% for the year is .550. He had a really rough time without Barnes/IQ and its already climbed back up to respectable. WTF are you even talking about.

His TS% over his entire career genius. You know you can look at other years too, right? Just toggle down

Ineffeicent literally every year of his career but the problem is IQ/Barnes being out for a bit. LMFAO

Why would I be an idiot a look at his total career at not the player he is now, when discussing now? Why would his rookie numbers matter? Yeah, when he had to be the primary ball handler, he's not that. And his TS% as a Raptor has been good. And that is not arguable.

And as always ...perfect timing as he's 7 of 9.

I'm done arguing this pure stupidity that you think is reality.

[mademan]

His TS% for the year is .550. He had a really rough time without Barnes/IQ and its already climbed back up to respectable. WTF are you even talking about.

His TS% over his entire career genius. You know you can look at other years too, right? Just toggle down

Ineffeicent literally every year of his career but the problem is IQ/Barnes being out for a bit. LMFAO

Why would I be an idiot a look at his total career at not the player he is now, when disusing now? Why would his rookie numbers matter? Yeah, when he had to be the primary ball handler, he's not that. And his TS% as a Raptor has been good. And that is not arguable.

And as always ...perfect timing as he's 7 of 9.

I'm done arguing this pure stupidity that you think is reality.

ofc. The genius here thinks that RJ is efficient, only if you ignore 90% of his time in the NBA (including this year).

Pure genius buddy. Keep it moving

[tsherkin]

[ RJ is not inefficient. Might want to get over it already.

So, minding that he he both did have a good game and is amid a good streak at the moment, he is inefficient, yes. On the season to date and on his career. Inefficiency is one of his largest issues. He has looked a lot better running alongside Scottie at slightly reduced volume, though, as he did last year, which is very encouraging.

His TS% for the year is .550. He had a really rough time without Barnes/IQ and its already climbed back up to respectable.

So, no. 2.5% BELOW league average is not "respectable."

His last 7 games, however, have been pretty slick on average, though, so there's that to enjoy and by which to be encouraged.

Be careful of those big generalizations which are factually inaccurate.

[FOB]

His TS% over his entire career genius. You know you can look at other years too, right? Just toggle down

Ineffeicent literally every year of his career but the problem is IQ/Barnes being out for a bit. LMFAO

Why would I be an idiot a look at his total career at not the player he is now, when disusing now? Why would his rookie numbers matter? Yeah, when he had to be the primary ball handler, he's not that. And his TS% as a Raptor has been good. And that is not arguable.

And as always ...perfect timing as he's 7 of 9.

I'm done arguing this pure stupidity that you think is reality.

ofc. The genius here thinks that RJ is efficient, only if you ignore 90% of his time in the NBA (including this year).

Pure genius buddy. Keep it moving

Damn y'all taking these discussions mighty personally lol...let's try to take a bit of the steam off, shall we? You're right of course that RJ hasn't been efficient throughout his career, and not a positive defender either. However, I think it's also unfair to ignore how the context of being on a different team that uses him differently (and with different complementary pieces) might change his on-court value and role. His TS% has improved since he came here, was above average last season, and is trending towards positive territory again now that he doesn't have to be the first option anymore.

Perhaps even more importantly, his PER has been above average this season and last and is significantly up from his time at the Knicks.His 3P% absolutely needs to get to 36-38% again for him to be considered a floor stretcher, we'll see if he can get there.

I'm still undecided on RJ, I definitely see the same limitations you do, and yet I think you're being a bit extreme in your judgment. Wht don't we just see how it all plays out when the team is healthy for a while?

[Johnny Bball]

[ RJ is not inefficient. Might want to get over it already.

So, minding that he he both did have a good game and is amid a good streak at the moment, he is inefficient, yes. On the season to date and on his career. Inefficiency is one of his largest issues. He has looked a lot better running alongside Scottie at slightly reduced volume, though, as he did last year, which is very encouraging.

His TS% for the year is .550. He had a really rough time without Barnes/IQ and its already climbed back up to respectable.

So, no. 2.5% BELOW league average is not "respectable."

His last 7 games, however, have been pretty slick on average, though, so there's that to enjoy and by which to be encouraged.

Be careful of those big generalizations which are factually inaccurate.

Factually inaccurate? You literally just said its within 2.5% of average and that isn't respectable? Why even bother to respond. You can pretty much average last year .615 and this years .550 and find its NOT inefficient, which IS THE DISCUSSION. And I I was literally talking about how it was impacted by being alone and the primary ballhandler which you just repeated.

[mtcan]

RJ is who he is and thats a bench player in this league. He doesnt play smart basketball and he doesnt defend. There are times where he's unstoppable going downhill, and thats valuable, but he doesnt do enough complementary things to be a 30+ min starter on a team hoping to win in the playoffs. It's far from clear to me he even helps teams win in the RS

Thankfully, this draft is full of young wings and i imagine we'll get one of them. RJ isnt a long term Raptor, imo

LOL...I don't know if you were watching tonight and for all the night he puts up 30+ (he's done it a few times since being a Raptor)...that's not a bench player.

He's playing really well. He's justifying his draft position AND his current contract which is feeling like a great deal right now.

[mtcan]

He's not inefficient? lmfao. At the very least, the other ones cant be proven (impact stats tell you what you need to know about the shooting and defense value he provides), but effeciency is easily measurable. He has been, for his career, year over year, significantly below league average efficiency. He has had exactly 1 year matching league average TS% boosted by him shooting at levels from every spot on the floor he's never matched before (a hot streak).

He is an inefficient player. There is just no argument to be had here....yikes

His TS% for the year is .550. He had a really rough time without Barnes/IQ and its already climbed back up to respectable. WTF are you even talking about.

His TS% over his entire career genius. You know you can look at other years too, right? Just toggle down

Ineffeicent literally every year of his career but the problem is IQ/Barnes being out for a bit. LMFAO

How about focusing on what he is as a RAPTOR? How about focusing on what you see today and not 2 years ago?

[mademan]

His TS% for the year is .550. He had a really rough time without Barnes/IQ and its already climbed back up to respectable. WTF are you even talking about.

His TS% over his entire career genius. You know you can look at other years too, right? Just toggle down

Ineffeicent literally every year of his career but the problem is IQ/Barnes being out for a bit. LMFAO

How about focusing on what he is as a RAPTOR? How about focusing on what you see today and not 2 years ago?

I did. He's been inefficient this season too. Ive watched almost every game this year and RJ is the same player he's always been. He has more space and more usage, but he's still the guy who's not a star on ball to justify having the ball all the time and not capable of impacting the game without the ball. Maybe he improves, but the league isnt full of guys who became who completely different players 6 years in

[mtcan]

His TS% over his entire career genius. You know you can look at other years too, right? Just toggle down

Ineffeicent literally every year of his career but the problem is IQ/Barnes being out for a bit. LMFAO

How about focusing on what he is as a RAPTOR? How about focusing on what you see today and not 2 years ago?

I did. He's been inefficient this season too. Ive watched almost every game this year and RJ is the same player he's always been. He has more space and more usage, but he's still the guy who's not a star on ball to justify having the ball all the time and not capable of impacting the game without the ball. Maybe he improves, but the league isnt full of guys who became who completely different players 6 years in

He's doing great.

[raincityraptors]

My favorite player doing favorite player things. He is such a BEAST!

[Got Nuffin]

I'm not sure if I agree with this argument that his current efficiency suddenly drops if he takes less shots. I don't think RJ is the type that needs to massage the ball to get going (think Derozan) - he can typically grab it and go, which is what you want in a secondary scorer / role playing scorer. I think he would do exactly the same stuff with less usage,, just ... less of it. Which is fine. I don't think he's the type of player where getting it less means he's never in rhythm.

If you argue that he doesn't deserve to be on the court for defensive reasons, well that's different. He would need to expend more of his energy on defence which again, I think would be ok as he's not a low iq baller preventing him from playing d.

In no world would you want RJ as the top option on a contender, but I do think some people here are reaching when they say that he would be useless with less usage etc. If anything, he's probably better with a bit less usage as it's not really in his bag to control the game or keep a dribble the way Barnes does.

[dballislife]

finishing inside, drawing fouls, and shooting the 3 is pretty much key

quick, dick, ochai, walter, kelly, and battle gives us shooting

but nobody can give us what rj gives us...without rj we would be just jacking it all day everyday

[LoveMyRaps]

Efficiency will drop with Barnes out

Biggest RJ fan but unfortunately, he's not good enough to be the first option.