Is RJ Barrett a beast?

[DaGawd]

Kid needs a tighter handle and a shot. Pretty much has been the same issues for 2-3 years now. His second year he improves his 3pt shot. 3rd year everything gets worse but he shows some shot creativity off the bounce. This year his game around the hoop gets better but everything else regresses.

He needs to **** put it all together. Just being a league average 3 ball makes him pretty solid efficiency wise I’d think. Just sad seeing so many random scrubs come off the bench confident in pulling 3s off the bounce and swishing and RJ still can’t do it

this is the **** i don’t understand. he always flashes something each year and everything else goes to crap.. like wtf. ngl i had a slim bit of hope for him last year when he showed that bit of creativity off the bounce and thought maybe that was the start of him breaking out.. how did that just completely vanish from his game???

[louisorr]

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it just may be a duck

[Deeeez Knicks]

He's still only 23.

He's still only 24.

He's still only 25.

To be fair, there have been a ton of players recently who are breaking out around 25...Fox, Lauri, Brown, Brunson, Randle, Jokic, Derozan, Lavine, Middleton, etc..Mikal taking it to another level. Even just last year a lot of people didnt want Fox.

This does not mean RJ will break out. He needs to show a lot more. Just that you never know

That’s cause those people were foolios.

This board is littered with players who people didn’t want that was better than what we had. Saying fans on this board didn’t want a player doesn’t hold much weight my dude.


Also all of the players you mentioned were better players than RJ from the rip in the overall picture.

It's just a general fact that a lot of players struggle at 22 and get better from there whether your a star or role player.

In terms of RJ, yea age is still no excuse for some of his issues. There is still time for him to put it together though.

We are in the playoffs and need better from him right now or he should be benched.

[cgmw]

Management added a third lefty isolation dribble-drive scorer with more seniority, and a completely predictable thing happened to RJ.

Fans always play makebelieve scout in a vacuum that ignores the extremely obvious impact of fit. Not saying RJ would have been a star elsewhere. Am saying his decline this year was extraordinarily predictable to the point of being obvious the moment Leon signed Brunson.

[NYKnickerbocker]

Management added a third lefty isolation dribble-drive scorer with more seniority, and a completely predictable thing happened to RJ.

Fans always play makebelieve scout in a vacuum that ignores the extremely obvious impact of fit. Not saying RJ would have been a star elsewhere. Am saying his decline this year was extraordinarily predictable to the point of being obvious the moment Leon signed Brunson.

idk his major thing is his inability to knock down spot up wide open 3s. Which he’s getting plenty of. He’s shooting worse from than from his rookie season. I wasn’t expecting the 40% he gave us 2 years ago. But at least league average. If he was league average he’d probably be a slightly below league average scorer overall. Brunson being here isn’t making him a worse 3 point shooter. It’s all on himself.

[Ghetto Gospel]

[cgmw]

Management added a third lefty isolation dribble-drive scorer with more seniority, and a completely predictable thing happened to RJ.

Fans always play makebelieve scout in a vacuum that ignores the extremely obvious impact of fit. Not saying RJ would have been a star elsewhere. Am saying his decline this year was extraordinarily predictable to the point of being obvious the moment Leon signed Brunson.

idk his major thing is his inability to knock down spot up wide open 3s. Which he’s getting plenty of. He’s shooting worse from than from his rookie season. I wasn’t expecting the 40% he gave us 2 years ago. But at least league average. If he was league average he’d probably be a slightly below league average scorer overall. Brunson being here isn’t making him a worse 3 point shooter. It’s all on himself.

Barrett wasn’t drafted as a corner three specialist. His primary skillset is head-down dribble drive to the left. Same as Randle. Same as Brunson. RJ is also strong in transition but the senior players thrive in a slower pace.

This is not an excuse. This is not a claim that he’d be an All Star elsewhere. It is merely the obvious truth that his odds of flourishing next to Brunson and Randle are and have always been extremely low.

[NYKnickerbocker]

Management added a third lefty isolation dribble-drive scorer with more seniority, and a completely predictable thing happened to RJ.

Fans always play makebelieve scout in a vacuum that ignores the extremely obvious impact of fit. Not saying RJ would have been a star elsewhere. Am saying his decline this year was extraordinarily predictable to the point of being obvious the moment Leon signed Brunson.

idk his major thing is his inability to knock down spot up wide open 3s. Which he’s getting plenty of. He’s shooting worse from than from his rookie season. I wasn’t expecting the 40% he gave us 2 years ago. But at least league average. If he was league average he’d probably be a slightly below league average scorer overall. Brunson being here isn’t making him a worse 3 point shooter. It’s all on himself.

Barrett wasn’t drafted as a corner three specialist. His primary skillset is head-down dribble drive to the left. Same as Randle. Same as Brunson. RJ is also strong in transition but the senior players thrive in a slower pace.

This is not an excuse. This is not a claim that he’d be an All Star elsewhere. It is merely the obvious truth that his odds of flourishing next to Brunson and Randle are and have always been extremely low.

If he can’t knock down spot up 3s something that pretty much every modern NBA player can do. He’s not destined to be in the NBA long

[thebuzzardman]

He has no handle, he has no first step, he has no right hand, he has no post game, he has no 3 ball, he’s too slow on defense. His playmaking can be decent at times but he lacks the handle/step to make use of it.

I don’t even know where he should begin working on his game this summer when there’s so many things he has to work on.

All we need is for him to be a 3&D player. That’s all we actually need. Maybe he slims down a bit and works on his shot and calls it a summer.

BUT OTHER THAN THIS HE'S GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thebuzzardman]

Management added a third lefty isolation dribble-drive scorer with more seniority, and a completely predictable thing happened to RJ.

Fans always play makebelieve scout in a vacuum that ignores the extremely obvious impact of fit. Not saying RJ would have been a star elsewhere. Am saying his decline this year was extraordinarily predictable to the point of being obvious the moment Leon signed Brunson.

idk his major thing is his inability to knock down spot up wide open 3s. Which he’s getting plenty of. He’s shooting worse from than from his rookie season. I wasn’t expecting the 40% he gave us 2 years ago. But at least league average. If he was league average he’d probably be a slightly below league average scorer overall. Brunson being here isn’t making him a worse 3 point shooter. It’s all on himself.

Barrett wasn’t drafted as a corner three specialist. His primary skillset is head-down dribble drive to the left. Same as Randle. Same as Brunson. RJ is also strong in transition but the senior players thrive in a slower pace.

This is not an excuse. This is not a claim that he’d be an All Star elsewhere. It is merely the obvious truth that his odds of flourishing next to Brunson and Randle are and have always been extremely low.

Brunson was added because it added the one thing that every NBA team but them had, and that's someone who can collapse the defense by being able to score from 3 levels and handle the ball at all of those levels and succeed with normal efficiency.
Randle isn't that guy, though at least he has talent. And RJ kind of sucks.

If the Knicks knew they were targeting Brunson, they shouldn't have extended RJ. I'll give you that.

He certainly doesn't fit the team as currently constructed.

[Woodsanity]

He's still only 23.

He's still only 24.

He's still only 25.

To be fair, there have been a ton of players recently who are breaking out around 25...Fox, Lauri, Brown, Brunson, Randle, Jokic, Derozan, Lavine, Middleton, etc..Mikal taking it to another level. Even just last year a lot of people didnt want Fox.

This does not mean RJ will break out. He needs to show a lot more. Just that you never know

This isn't even true for half of those players. Fox was already a good player at 22-23 he just had bad teammates.
And most of those players were fairly efficient while RJ has way below average efficiency.

[cgmw]

idk his major thing is his inability to knock down spot up wide open 3s. Which he’s getting plenty of. He’s shooting worse from than from his rookie season. I wasn’t expecting the 40% he gave us 2 years ago. But at least league average. If he was league average he’d probably be a slightly below league average scorer overall. Brunson being here isn’t making him a worse 3 point shooter. It’s all on himself.

Barrett wasn’t drafted as a corner three specialist. His primary skillset is head-down dribble drive to the left. Same as Randle. Same as Brunson. RJ is also strong in transition but the senior players thrive in a slower pace.

This is not an excuse. This is not a claim that he’d be an All Star elsewhere. It is merely the obvious truth that his odds of flourishing next to Brunson and Randle are and have always been extremely low.

If he can’t knock down spot up 3s something that pretty much every modern NBA player can do. He’s not destined to be in the NBA long

Sure, but that’s like saying the sky is blue. Bravo. He wasn’t drafted to be Reggie Bullock or Lou Williams. Problem is, Reggie Bullock (e.g. Quentin Grimes) and Lou Williams (e.g. IQ) are BETTER FITS next to two ball-dominant lefty dribble-drive veteran isolation scorers like Brunson and Randle.

Asking RJ to be good at spot ups is important, but it’s not a good fit for his talent profile. Fitting a teenager into a Julius Randle “win now” bubble contender was always a longshot. Fan expectations have been out of whack from the jump and should have been rock bottom the minute Leon signed Brunson.

Could RJ have been a star or was he always destined to be mid? These are cosmic philosophical questions above my pay grade, but he’s now had 4 years of heavy reps in a me-first dog-eat-dog isolation offense, so the habits are what they are. One thing is for damn sure, he won’t suddenly blossom into an All Star playing under Thibs next to Brunson and Randle.

[Deeeez Knicks]

He's still only 23.

He's still only 24.

He's still only 25.

To be fair, there have been a ton of players recently who are breaking out around 25...Fox, Lauri, Brown, Brunson, Randle, Jokic, Derozan, Lavine, Middleton, etc..Mikal taking it to another level. Even just last year a lot of people didnt want Fox.

This does not mean RJ will break out. He needs to show a lot more. Just that you never know

This isn't even true for half of those players. Fox was already a good player at 22-23 he just had bad teammates.
And most of those players were fairly efficient while RJ has way below average efficiency.

Better teammates have helped, but this version of Fox is def better and he has matured a lot. He was always good, but is taking his game to another level.

It’s just the facts that players typically peak from 25-28.

[god shammgod]

idk his major thing is his inability to knock down spot up wide open 3s. Which he’s getting plenty of. He’s shooting worse from than from his rookie season. I wasn’t expecting the 40% he gave us 2 years ago. But at least league average. If he was league average he’d probably be a slightly below league average scorer overall. Brunson being here isn’t making him a worse 3 point shooter. It’s all on himself.

Barrett wasn’t drafted as a corner three specialist. His primary skillset is head-down dribble drive to the left. Same as Randle. Same as Brunson. RJ is also strong in transition but the senior players thrive in a slower pace.

This is not an excuse. This is not a claim that he’d be an All Star elsewhere. It is merely the obvious truth that his odds of flourishing next to Brunson and Randle are and have always been extremely low.

If he can’t knock down spot up 3s something that pretty much every modern NBA player can do. He’s not destined to be in the NBA long

and somehow with less offensive responsibly he's becomes a lot worse on defense. there's no excuse for that.

[whocares1]

To be fair, there have been a ton of players recently who are breaking out around 25...Fox, Lauri, Brown, Brunson, Randle, Jokic, Derozan, Lavine, Middleton, etc..Mikal taking it to another level. Even just last year a lot of people didnt want Fox.

This does not mean RJ will break out. He needs to show a lot more. Just that you never know

This isn't even true for half of those players. Fox was already a good player at 22-23 he just had bad teammates.
And most of those players were fairly efficient while RJ has way below average efficiency.

Better teammates have helped, but this version of Fox is def better and he has matured a lot. He was always good, but is taking his game to another level.

It’s just the facts that players typically peak from 25-28.

Regardless Fox had the athleticism and quickness a tangible skill that was worth developing. RJ honestly doesn’t have any of that. He’s not shifty on offense or defense. He’s a role player without a role.

[Ghetto Gospel]

idk his major thing is his inability to knock down spot up wide open 3s. Which he’s getting plenty of. He’s shooting worse from than from his rookie season. I wasn’t expecting the 40% he gave us 2 years ago. But at least league average. If he was league average he’d probably be a slightly below league average scorer overall. Brunson being here isn’t making him a worse 3 point shooter. It’s all on himself.

Barrett wasn’t drafted as a corner three specialist. His primary skillset is head-down dribble drive to the left. Same as Randle. Same as Brunson. RJ is also strong in transition but the senior players thrive in a slower pace.

This is not an excuse. This is not a claim that he’d be an All Star elsewhere. It is merely the obvious truth that his odds of flourishing next to Brunson and Randle are and have always been extremely low.

Brunson was added because it added the one thing that every NBA team but them had, and that's someone who can collapse the defense by being able to score from 3 levels and handle the ball at all of those levels and succeed with normal efficiency.
Randle isn't that guy, though at least he has talent. And RJ kind of sucks.

If the Knicks knew they were targeting Brunson, they shouldn't have extended RJ. I'll give you that.

He certainly doesn't fit the team as currently constructed.

realistically, he doesn't fit the construction of any team that is attempting to be competitive.

right now he's being guarded by one of darius garland or donovan mitchell. in theory, this should be a great matchup for him and he should be able to take either of these guys no problem. it's a long series so he has some time to get into the swing of things but if he can't get it going against these 2, then really what are we doing here

[TerrenceClarke]

If RJ was lazy then I can understand that a person can say there was upside if he just put in the work. But by all all accounts this dude puts in mad off season work and still sucks ass.

Like I said earlier in the season that means he is not talented at all. You can’t work this hard and have talent and still suck ass in your fourth year. Once Giannis work ethic met his talent he took off and became a star. Same goes for Butler. Same goes for players like Lavine etc etc.

The problem with Modern Talent evaluations is that to many players are allowed to live off of their HS stats and game even after sucking in college when it comes to draft range selection. It’s why many players who were not the biggest HS players but have very good freshman years are still sloted behind 5 star players in the draft that sucked during their freshman year.

RJ got drafted high cause he was a star in HS, cause he sucked in Duke. All of the issues he has now he had in his freshman year.

RJ was a manchild playing against much weaker players in HS, of course he looked like a stud.

He has never lived up to the player that was projected from HS.

He damn sure looks like the player he was in Duke tho.

Smh

[god shammgod]

If RJ was lazy then I can understand that a person can say there was upside if he just put in the work. But by all all accounts this dude puts in mad off season work and still sucks ass.

Like I said earlier in the season that means he is not talented at all. You can’t work this hard and have talent and still suck ass in your fourth year. Once Giannis work ethic met his talent he took off and became a star. Same goes for Butler. Same goes for players like Lavine etc etc.

The problem with Modern Talent evaluations is that to many players are allowed to live off of their HS stats and game even after sucking in college when it comes to draft range selection. It’s why many players who were not the biggest HS players but have very good freshman years are still sloted behind 5 star players in the draft that sucked during their freshman year.

RJ got drafted high cause he was a star in HS, cause he sucked in Duke. All of the issues he has now he had in his freshman year.

RJ was a manchild playing against much weaker players in HS, of course he looked like a stud.

He has never lived up to the player that was projected from HS.

He damn sure looks like the player he was in Duke tho.

Smh

Thibs has talked openly to the press about rj needing to get more shots up in practice during multiple seasons. That doesn’t sound like he’s that hard of a worker.

[TerrenceClarke]

If RJ was lazy then I can understand that a person can say there was upside if he just put in the work. But by all all accounts this dude puts in mad off season work and still sucks ass.

Like I said earlier in the season that means he is not talented at all. You can’t work this hard and have talent and still suck ass in your fourth year. Once Giannis work ethic met his talent he took off and became a star. Same goes for Butler. Same goes for players like Lavine etc etc.

The problem with Modern Talent evaluations is that to many players are allowed to live off of their HS stats and game even after sucking in college when it comes to draft range selection. It’s why many players who were not the biggest HS players but have very good freshman years are still sloted behind 5 star players in the draft that sucked during their freshman year.

RJ got drafted high cause he was a star in HS, cause he sucked in Duke. All of the issues he has now he had in his freshman year.

RJ was a manchild playing against much weaker players in HS, of course he looked like a stud.

He has never lived up to the player that was projected from HS.

He damn sure looks like the player he was in Duke tho.

Smh

Thibs has talked openly to the press about rj needing to get more shots up in practice during multiple seasons. That doesn’t sound like he’s that hard of a worker.

Yeah more shots than the 1000s he already putting up. Thibs thought well if he shoots more maybe he would get better.

you would think its simple logic that he would get better, but that simple logic doesnt work with scrubs. A scrub can be the hardest worker dont mean he wont remain a scrub.

I dont see RJ as a lazy player at all. Dude is just not talented imo


T Mac was known as not a hard worker and look how good he was....thats how you know he had talent in spades.

Iverson said practice for what?....yet he was MVP.

RJ is just a hard working scrub in many ways....no amount of hard work will get him to be good to the point that fans think he can be that dude. He will be a solid role player nothing more imo.


If it was just about hard work then any hard worker could make it to the NBA, NFL etc. It just doesnt work like that. RJ is an elite player for competition below NBA standards.

This dude Dwyane Bacon looks like God in Europe, but he wasnt good enough to hack it in the NBA and be that dude.

[Im Coming Home]

YOU KNOW I HAD TO DO IT TO EM