HiJiNX wrote:Again, if you can’t see Scottie’s potential at this point, I don’t know what to say. He is far and away the most naturally talented player on this team. Of course Fred and Siakam are better than him right now. Anybody who thinks different is out to lunch. But, Scottie has an unreal template to work with given his physical profile, processing speed, competitiveness and winning mentality. If our only sticking point for this guy is he can’t make a midrange jumper consistently yet, if THAT is the thing that stands between being a high level role player and a perennial all-star, then it truly surprises me that some of y’all ain’t higher on him than you are. It is surprisingly easy to develop a midrange jumper, especially for a guy who creates space so well in that range already.
Of course there’s a reality in which the jumper never comes around but there’s a lot of evidence pointing to it happening.
Barnes has had probably about 20 instances in his career so far where he’s been the best player on the floor for at least an entire quarter, regardless of competition. Oh and he also tends to do this when it’s needed the most.
The talent and ceiling is clear.
Yep and people also forget he's only 21. If he were 24/25 and showing this degree of inconsistency that's perhaps one thing but there's still many levels/years still left in his developmental journey. The one dude in this org that we need to have patience with.
And even then we need to be a bit realistic about our expectations.
Is Scottie gonna ever be a Kawhi-like A1 superstar that you expect to shoulder all the load game in and game out? I think he can have good spurts like many good players but I don't think that's really what he is. There's only a handful of those guys that exist. It's a disservice to him to sht on him for not meeting those unrealistic expectations.
But is he a solid all-around player who all is about the team and making his teammates better? He already is that guy. Just being a smarter and more efficient version of that dude down the line is a valuable commodity.
We'll see that even more if/when he ever gets to play with better talent.