RJ Barrett is Criminally Underrated

[Raps in 4]

He's overrated, not underrated.

[VanWest82]

We have a 1.5 season sample suggesting the team is much better offensively with him on the court than off, and the offense runs better with the ball in his hands strongly suggesting he’s our best and most important offensive piece. There are some reasonable counter-arguments for Quickley as well though I’m less convinced.

RJ is pretty clearly undervalued by this fan base. We’d be lucky to sign him to an extension. He’ll probably wait and sign a max with some bad lottery team looking for reliable production.

[Ksessel15]

Is anyone actually watching the games. It’s empty stats…

[Mattatron]

Nice try, RJ.

[Brinbe]

He's rated just fine, if anything overrated in here due to his passport. A decent but flawed player. Can score at 2 levels and playmake/rebound but isn't an impactful defender. Probably best suited to be a sixth man who leads the bench and can dominate lesser comp and hop into starting lineups when needed.

The only issues are whether he'd be okay with that role and that he's gonna be wildly overpaid on his next deal considering what scoring bench guards usually make.

[Prestige]

He’s like DeRozan. He can get his stats and there’s undeniably talent there, but is he able to be part of a winning solution? Can his style of play be a good fit as a starter on a contender? I have my doubts

[M3tro]

He's Corey Maggette reborn.

You don't win with those type of players unless he's coming off the bench.

[mdenny]

He’s like DeRozan. He can get his stats and there’s undeniably talent there, but is he able to be part of a winning solution? Can his style of play be a good fit as a starter on a contender? I have my doubts

Demar was a far more "winning player" at the start of his fifth season than Scott Barnes.

It's actually crazy that in Scott Barnes 4 years....the more he is used....the more his team loses. That was never true for demar in his 3rd and 4th seasons.

In this past season....the Raptors actually looked better while Scott Barnes was sitting with injury.

The RJ skepticism is a pure function of the Scott Barnes hype. And it's hilarious that the Scott Barnes cult can't come to terms with it. They spent so much time hating on Fred and pascal....two players that actually win games.

Now it's hilarious watching them blame RJ who had a much better season than Scott Barnes.

I'm gonna be somewhat disappointed if we don't trade Barnes for a star player before the season starts. Not only are his skills as a basketball player over-valued....he's also very immature and spoiled.

Warned for derailing -duff

[ArthurVandelay]

I've said a few times that I think his best role is as a 6th man. And I don't say it as an insult. I think he would absolutely dominate in that role. He'd be 6MOY.

[Tripod]

He’s like DeRozan. He can get his stats and there’s undeniably talent there, but is he able to be part of a winning solution? Can his style of play be a good fit as a starter on a contender? I have my doubts

Demar was a far more "winning player" at the start of his fifth season than Scott Barnes.

It's actually crazy that in Scott Barnes 4 years....the more he is used....the more his team loses. That was never true for demar in his 3rd and 4th seasons.

In this past season....the Raptors actually looked better while Scott Barnes was sitting with injury.

The RJ skepticism is a pure function of the Scott Barnes hype. And it's hilarious that the Scott Barnes cult can't come to terms with it. They spent so much time hating on Fred and pascal....two players that actually win games.

Now it's hilarious watching them blame RJ who had a much better season than Scott Barnes.

I'm gonna be somewhat disappointed if we don't trade Barnes for a star player before the season starts. Not only are his skills as a basketball player over-valued....he's also very immature and spoiled.

My God.

Do you have to infect every thread with your Barnes cult rhetoric all while worshiping Fred? It's exhausting to constantly see.

Maybe just go be a Rockets fan.

[Psubs]

I've said a few times that I think his best role is as a 6th man. And I don't say it as an insult. I think he would absolutely dominate in that role. He'd be 6MOY.

He's like a physical Jordan Clarkson. It's like the Cavs having to trade away Sexton, who gets to start on a non-contender.

On a contender, RJ should not be starting because of defense, not finishing games due to poor FT shooting.

[tsherkin]

RJ's an interesting one to consider.

He's expensive and he isn't a good defender. Better than before, this season, but not particularly good. Improved playmaker. Still doesn't have much of a shot outside of the right corner, and he's been struggling big time at the FT line, which is concerning. Inefficient volume scorer tossing up Ricky Davis numbers this year, and he's had some availability concerns.

In 2024 right after the trade, he was basically shooting right-corner 3s and otherwise inside 10 feet. No middie, no long two. And while he was bottom-third among guys scoring 18+ in terms of FG% inside 3 feet, if he can maintain that shot distribution on reasonable/constrained volume, then he can get himself into a somewhat-efficient space, perhaps.

We're projecting to have better spacing, and a much better focal scorer this year, while BI is healthy and with Quick. Hopefully, that means more room for RJ to work, lots of passing support and everything might help him thrive.

I'd love to see him stay on the team. Hometown guy, improving, still young and all that, but he does have some barriers to work through in order to be worth it beyond box score averages.

[ArthurVandelay]

He’s like DeRozan. He can get his stats and there’s undeniably talent there, but is he able to be part of a winning solution? Can his style of play be a good fit as a starter on a contender? I have my doubts

Demar was a far more "winning player" at the start of his fifth season than Scott Barnes.

It's actually crazy that in Scott Barnes 4 years....the more he is used....the more his team loses. That was never true for demar in his 3rd and 4th seasons.

In this past season....the Raptors actually looked better while Scott Barnes was sitting with injury.

The RJ skepticism is a pure function of the Scott Barnes hype. And it's hilarious that the Scott Barnes cult can't come to terms with it. They spent so much time hating on Fred and pascal....two players that actually win games.

Now it's hilarious watching them blame RJ who had a much better season than Scott Barnes.

I'm gonna be somewhat disappointed if we don't trade Barnes for a star player before the season starts. Not only are his skills as a basketball player over-valued....he's also very immature and spoiled.

My God.

Do you have to infect every thread with your Barnes cult rhetoric all while worshiping Fred? It's exhausting to constantly see.

Maybe just go be a Rockets fan.

This.

[Duffman100]

Demar was a far more "winning player" at the start of his fifth season than Scott Barnes.

It's actually crazy that in Scott Barnes 4 years....the more he is used....the more his team loses. That was never true for demar in his 3rd and 4th seasons.

In this past season....the Raptors actually looked better while Scott Barnes was sitting with injury.

The RJ skepticism is a pure function of the Scott Barnes hype. And it's hilarious that the Scott Barnes cult can't come to terms with it. They spent so much time hating on Fred and pascal....two players that actually win games.

Now it's hilarious watching them blame RJ who had a much better season than Scott Barnes.

I'm gonna be somewhat disappointed if we don't trade Barnes for a star player before the season starts. Not only are his skills as a basketball player over-valued....he's also very immature and spoiled.

My God.

Do you have to infect every thread with your Barnes cult rhetoric all while worshiping Fred? It's exhausting to constantly see.

Maybe just go be a Rockets fan.

This.

User has been warned. Let's move past and talk about, I don't know, RJ?

[TorontoBarneys]

If anything, unlike the Knicks, I think Raps fans are poised to see what RJ is truly capable of as a player without any rose-tinted goggles, since we didn't draft him.

I think he's an okay player. Probably slightly above average starter? I don't think the impact he brings warrants the amount of minutes he's gotten this season, so I hope his role is reduced coming into next season. Or maybe he's traded before that, ideally, because lowering his role will likely lower his value, too?

Or maybe I'm speaking too soon on trading him but I don't anticipate him getting much better than he is. We'll see, I guess. I do really like the part of his game where he is able to penetrate to the basket better than anyone else on the roster.

[bobbyp3588]

He's Corey Maggette reborn.

You don't win with those type of players unless he's coming off the bench.

Lazy and ridiculous thinking.

[tsherkin]

He's Corey Maggette reborn.

You don't win with those type of players unless he's coming off the bench.

Lazy and ridiculous thinking.

Maggette was at least efficient, though, as a result of being extremely adept at drawing fouls. He also wasn't as good at passing as RJ was this season, so the comparison really doesn't make a lot of sense.

[tsherkin]

If anything, unlike the Knicks, I think Raps fans are poised to see what RJ is truly capable of as a player without any rose-tinted goggles, since we didn't draft him.

I think he's an okay player. Probably slightly above average starter? I don't think the impact he brings warrants the amount of minutes he's gotten this season, so I hope his role is reduced coming into next season. Or maybe he's traded before that, ideally, because lowering his role will likely lower his value, too?

Or maybe I'm speaking too soon on trading him but I don't anticipate him getting much better than he is. We'll see, I guess. I do really like the part of his game where he is able to penetrate to the basket better than anyone else on the roster.

This feels about right. He's got some potential. We need to see what he looks like on a decent team, with reasonable spacing and distribution of scoring responsibility and all that. But Masai definitely has a decision to make about RJ. For my part, I hope we get to see him balling out, even if we ultimately move him. Would be nice for his career, and he seems a nice hometown guy.

[Scase]

He's Corey Maggette reborn.

You don't win with those type of players unless he's coming off the bench.

Lazy and ridiculous thinking.

Maggette was at least efficient, though, as a result of being extremely adept at drawing fouls. He also wasn't as good at passing as RJ was this season, so the comparison really doesn't make a lot of sense.

I think the comparison is more about role and efficacy, same with the DD comps. It's not necessarily about play style, but rather their impact and what they are best suited for on a winning team.

Volume scoring and bad defence are not what you see on winning teams from core pieces, he is what he is, neither terrible nor great. He's a very middle of the road player, and as Brinbe mentioned, a big concern is what his next contract will be like, and much like Siakam/FVV/OG it will be too much for what our team is looking for, so hopefully it's another teams problem.

If he had an eagle, instead of a maple leaf on his passport, no one would really care.

[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.

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.

Knicks didn’t want him, Raps will not want him. This will be the theme of his career until he embraces being a 6th man.