RJ Barrett is Criminally Underrated

[DreamTeam09]

Nobody is underrating RJ. He is simply the odd man out. The current starting lineup of: Poeltl, Barnes, RJ, BI and IQ will not work. Poeltl, Barnes, BI and IQ are set in stone. RJ is the only one that can be replaced, for example a defensive player.

Please let us know how you know this?

Because of defense. BI, RJ and IQ are allergic to playing good defense.

Oh so based on an exaggeration. Valid

[LoveMyRaps]

Nobody is underrating RJ. He is simply the odd man out. The current starting lineup of: Poeltl, Barnes, RJ, BI and IQ will not work. Poeltl, Barnes, BI and IQ are set in stone. RJ is the only one that can be replaced, for example a defensive player.

Please let us know how you know this?

3pt shooting is a concern with that starting rotation.

[earthtone]

what do you think RJ's next contract will look like? We kind of have to decide right now if we want to pay it or not. If we are keeping him, we probably need to look at shipping out Ochai/Gradey for cost controlled assets.

We still have two more full seasons with RJ under contract, so I don’t think we need to decide right now.

Him being extension eligible does provide some opportunities though, I think it would make sense to sign him to a long term deal. I have to double check extension rules, but I’m pretty sure he could only add 3 more years if he signs this off-season.

If he’s willing to sign for 3 years around $100 million, I think there’s a very high chance he performs to the level of that contract, and a decent chance he over-performs that contract.

By the time that contract would kick in, $30 mil would be about average starter money, so I’d say its worth the risk to add those additional years right now, in hopes he becomes more than that,

[CPT]

He's exceeded expectations, but you also can't just handwave away the concept of efficiency.

Unless I'm misunderstanding that "30 players to put up 20/5/5" stat, it really doesn't say as much as you might hope. Aside from the whole idea that that is some meaningful threshold of counting stats (it isn't), that indicates that most NBA teams will produce a 20/5/5 player, almost by default. That role is available on pretty much every team, and if you don't care about efficiency or defense, RJ can fill it.

He can be the 1st/2nd option on a terrible team. Can he be the 3rd/4th option on a good one? That's where I have my doubts. The idea of him as a 6th man is interesting, but it would actually have to happen successfully to give him credit for it.

As for his contract, it's not some albatross, but it certainly isn't good. 66th highest paid player in the league, but I wouldn't put him particularly close to 66th best. Again, the simplest of analysis (30 teams) would suggest that he'd be the 3rd best player on most teams, and I think that's clearly not true. How many playoff teams would he start on?

If anything, despite the negativity, he's probably still overrated. He has a kind of star profile as a high draft pick, key player for Team Canada, and a "20/5/5" guy, but he's just... not that good? It doesn't mean he's terrible, and he's probably closer to being an All-Star than being out of the league, but realistically he's not close to either. He's just a dude that's kind of okay and might top out at a DeRozan/Lavine level of impact. These guys don't suck, I just don't think they have a place on good teams.

[RomaniaLuvTR]

Agreed...I really like RJ, still very young and home grown

[Shakril]

Please let us know how you know this?

Because of defense. BI, RJ and IQ are allergic to playing good defense.

Oh so based on an exaggeration. Valid

based on facts

[Tripod]

In the end, we don't need to decide anything this offseason. Let's see how the pieces actually play together and who takes steps forward, and who doesn't.

[Raptorfan2012]

I love RJ (have his jersey) but it’s hard to keep him in a cap environment when there are 4 guys ahead of him getting paid (Barnes, BI, IQ, and eventually Jak).

[Westside Gunn]

Its because he's been in many trade rumours

But this board does underrate him. Specially some posters who would say theyd rather keep Ochai and trade away Barrett

[Tor_Raps]

Preach!!! RJ has been my favorite player since arriving here.

Now don't get me wrong, I wouldn't think twice if we're able to upgrade on him but youd think he was a scrub with the way people treat him. He was the only player who could get to the rim and finish... that is not an easy skill set to replace because everyone would be doing it if they could.

[TGM]

I do t think the issue is RJ, but if anything making Scottie a number option which he naturally isn’t.

The Raps need to try and make Scottie more of a Draymond role. Which is why getting a tier 1 alpha is key so Scottie no longer needs to be the focal point of our offense. As the season progresses barring a trade for Giannis I think BI becomes the alpha.

[Godaddycurse]

He needs to improve his defense and efficiency to be a good starter alongside IQ/Poeltl/Barnes/BI. His game is better suited to be a 6th man right now and 27M is an overpay for a 6th man

[PoundTown]

Nobody is underrating RJ. He is simply the odd man out. The current starting lineup of: Poeltl, Barnes, RJ, BI and IQ will not work. Poeltl, Barnes, BI and IQ are set in stone. RJ is the only one that can be replaced, for example a defensive player.

I feel like we have a lot to be optimistic about this upcoming season but still some major question marks.

Young players/ recent draft picks improving?
Ingrams health
Scottie’s progression/ taking next step
Starting 5 cohesion/ balance
Log jam at the 2/3

Basically, we kind of have to wait and see how things work out and then pick a direction before any assets contracts expire and we let them walk for nothing. I like RJ sticking around this season to see how the 4 perimeter guys in starting lineup stack up against eachother and in case of ingrams health being an issue.

[HumbleRen]

Half of the fan base will never understand why people don’t want RJ on their team and it’ll take him being on several other teams during his career for them to finally get it lol.

He’s a hard worker, he’s just unfortunately playing in an era where he isn’t needed on winning teams as a starter.

[WuTang_OG]

would be a great 6th man on a winning club

[earthtone]

He's exceeded expectations, but you also can't just handwave away the concept of efficiency.

Unless I'm misunderstanding that "30 players to put up 20/5/5" stat, it really doesn't say as much as you might hope. Aside from the whole idea that that is some meaningful threshold of counting stats (it isn't), that indicates that most NBA teams will produce a 20/5/5 player, almost by default. That role is available on pretty much every team, and if you don't care about efficiency or defense, RJ can fill it.

He can be the 1st/2nd option on a terrible team. Can he be the 3rd/4th option on a good one? That's where I have my doubts. The idea of him as a 6th man is interesting, but it would actually have to happen successfully to give him credit for it.

As for his contract, it's not some albatross, but it certainly isn't good. 66th highest paid player in the league, but I wouldn't put him particularly close to 66th best. Again, the simplest of analysis (30 teams) would suggest that he'd be the 3rd best player on most teams, and I think that's clearly not true. How many playoff teams would he start on?

If anything, despite the negativity, he's probably still overrated. He has a kind of star profile as a high draft pick, key player for Team Canada, and a "20/5/5" guy, but he's just... not that good? It doesn't mean he's terrible, and he's probably closer to being an All-Star than being out of the league, but realistically he's not close to either. He's just a dude that's kind of okay and might top out at a DeRozan/Lavine level of impact. These guys don't suck, I just don't think they have a place on good teams.

Not trying to hand-wave away the inefficiency, just highlight that it's dramatically improved since getting to Toronto. Efficiency pretty role-dependent, and tends to improve as players age. We've already seen his efficiency increase in this system, and I think there's fair reason to believe it'll continue to get better while BI takes on a huge chunk of the scoring load.

As for the 20/5/5 stat, it's 30 players in total over the last five seasons, not 30 players per season. Didn't chart exactly how many, but it seemed to average 10 or 11 guys per season. It's a super simple metric, but I think it's solid as a quick way to highlight a baseline of scoring ability, size/rebounding, and playmaking skills.

It takes a baseline of different skills to hit 20/5/5 consistently over the course of a season, and 28 out of 30 players reaching that metric being at least All-Star level players makes me more positive about RJ's outlook rather than seeing it as a flaw in the usefulness of the stat.

I also question if he can be a 3rd/4th option on good team, and I think that's what I'm looking forward to seeing this season. If he shows that he can continue to improve his defence and increase either his 3PT/FTA percentage (preferably both), then he's a pretty comfortable fit in the starting line-up and is probably poised to outplay his contract.

[Randle McMurphy]

would be a great 6th man on a winning club

Would he play defense as a 6th man for that team

[WuTang_OG]

would be a great 6th man on a winning club

Would he play defense as a 6th man for that team

who knows but u can accept less on that end if hes scoring off the bench

[LoveMyRaps]

Half of the fan base will never understand why people don’t want RJ on their team and it’ll take him being on several other teams during his career for them to finally get it lol.

He’s a hard worker, he’s just unfortunately playing in an era where he isn’t needed on winning teams as a starter.

He can be on winning teams as a starter, as long as he’s not the second best 3pt shooter in the starting lineup. He’s a solid starter, with a versatile skillset.

[Rapsfan07]

what do you think RJ's next contract will look like? We kind of have to decide right now if we want to pay it or not. If we are keeping him, we probably need to look at shipping out Ochai/Gradey for cost controlled assets.

Not sure tbh but that's why we have to see what happens this year.

I wouldn't mind moving Dick to shore up some other areas of concern on the roster (I.e a back up C and/or PF) as he's the worst defender we have at that position. But we'll have Walter or Agbaji to choose from to backfill Barrett if indeed he does have to be moved.