Official RJ Barrett Thread

[GoRapstheoriginal]

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I sure F*cking hope so! Fingers & toes crossed & sending positive thoughts/prayers/vibes/karma.

[deeps6x]

What makes this thread 'Official'?

[NinjaBro]

What makes this thread 'Official'?

Don't ask silly questions. Just go with it.

"We need to trade Siakam for AJ Griffin before it's too late!" - PhilBlackson

[Raps in 4]

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This guy was a total scrub in NYK, but he completely turned it around with us. A jump from 54% TS to 62% TS is absurd. Credit to Darko and his coaching staff for turning his game around. And credit to Masai for identifying him as a player whose game could still be rehabilitated. Hopefully he doesn't regress to his old chucking ways next season.

[TimeForChange]

What makes this thread 'Official'?

it says so in the title...duh

[Boogie!]

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This guy was a total scrub in NYK, but he completely turned it around with us. A jump from 54% TS to 62% TS is absurd. Credit to Darko and his coaching staff for turning his game around. And credit to Masai for identifying him as a player whose game could still be rehabilitated. Hopefully he doesn't regress to his old chucking ways next season.

Rj Barrett is more suited to be our go to scorer vs Scottie Barnes tbh. I’m not saying he’ll be our best overall player necessarily but he should definitely become more of a focal point for the team.

I see Barnes as more of the Lowry with Barrett being the demar

[Raps in 4]

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This guy was a total scrub in NYK, but he completely turned it around with us. A jump from 54% TS to 62% TS is absurd. Credit to Darko and his coaching staff for turning his game around. And credit to Masai for identifying him as a player whose game could still be rehabilitated. Hopefully he doesn't regress to his old chucking ways next season.

Rj Barrett is more suited to be our go to scorer vs Scottie Barnes tbh. I’m not saying he’ll be our best overall player necessarily but he should definitely become more of a focal point for the team

He's a very limited scorer. We cut out his midrange game entirely and limited him to open 3s only. I don't see him as anything better than a third option for us, but he can be a good third option in his current role. He can be the Aaron Gordon to Scottie's Jokic.

[C_Money]

This guy was a total scrub in NYK, but he completely turned it around with us. A jump from 54% TS to 62% TS is absurd. Credit to Darko and his coaching staff for turning his game around. And credit to Masai for identifying him as a player whose game could still be rehabilitated. Hopefully he doesn't regress to his old chucking ways next season.

Rj Barrett is more suited to be our go to scorer vs Scottie Barnes tbh. I’m not saying he’ll be our best overall player necessarily but he should definitely become more of a focal point for the team

He's a very limited scorer. We cut out his midrange game entirely and limited him to open 3s only. I don't see him as anything better than a third option for us, but he can be a good third option in his current role. He can be the Aaron Gordon to Scottie's Jokic.

Maybe with the Knicks but with us he put up nearly 22 PPG and out-scored Scottie.

[WuTang_CMB]

RJ needs his defense to really step up. Masai mentioned they challenged him this offseason with it. Been a net negative player thus far. 20 points a game doesnt mean anything in 2024 when you are giving up more

[PD28]

RJ needs his defense to really step up. Masai mentioned they challenged him this offseason with it. Been a net negative player thus far. 20 points a game doesnt mean anything in 2024 when you are giving up more

Agreed. We need to get him to be at least neutral on the defensive end - then he becomes an actual asset to the team. Let's hope coming home motivates him to keep working on his shot and defence.

Also, for the love of god work on the right hand. We can't have him cross to the right and have an easy layup, only to come back to his left lol.

[LoveMyRaps]

RJ needs his defense to really step up. Masai mentioned they challenged him this offseason with it. Been a net negative player thus far. 20 points a game doesnt mean anything in 2024 when you are giving up more

He had a positive BPM, how has he been net negative?
Not to mention, he was playing with a bunch of G-Leaguers half the time.

I agree that he needs to take that next step on the defensive end though.

[LoveMyRaps]

If RJ puts up 22,6,4 again while shooting 55% from the field and 39% from deep - he's gonna get an All-Star nod.

[WuTang_CMB]

RJ needs his defense to really step up. Masai mentioned they challenged him this offseason with it. Been a net negative player thus far. 20 points a game doesnt mean anything in 2024 when you are giving up more

He had a positive BPM, how has he been net negative?
Not to mention, he was playing with a bunch of G-Leaguers half the time.

I agree that he needs to take that next step on the defensive end though.

BPM is a rate stat. He’s been -3 net rating. Just needs to improve his defense. It will help his game a lot

[Boogie!]

This guy was a total scrub in NYK, but he completely turned it around with us. A jump from 54% TS to 62% TS is absurd. Credit to Darko and his coaching staff for turning his game around. And credit to Masai for identifying him as a player whose game could still be rehabilitated. Hopefully he doesn't regress to his old chucking ways next season.

Rj Barrett is more suited to be our go to scorer vs Scottie Barnes tbh. I’m not saying he’ll be our best overall player necessarily but he should definitely become more of a focal point for the team

He's a very limited scorer. We cut out his midrange game entirely and limited him to open 3s only. I don't see him as anything better than a third option for us, but he can be a good third option in his current role. He can be the Aaron Gordon to Scottie's Jokic.

Scottie is more limited than rj as a scorer.

[Jim Todd Jr.]

I can't believe there are still people on here criticising this guy. He has been a revelation. He is efficient as hell constantly putting pressure on the rim, and even his perimeter shot looks better than advertised. He is a great fit with Barnes (who is often still passive getting all the way to the basket) and Quickley who it turns out is more of a long range bomber than a slasher.

RJ is even unselfish and not half the low IQ black hole that some Knicks fans portrayed him to be.

If RJ is our 3rd/4th option going forward that is amazing for the future makeup of this team.

Yeah, RJ definitely provides a skillset that both Barnes & Quick are lacking (Cutting/ Slashing/ Finishing/ Drawing fouls). He compliments them well.

- He is able to get to the rim easily while on the move.
- Does a great job of protecting the ball while initiating contact & creating space.
- He has great footwork.
- Has actually been a good passer & has decent court vision (not a black hole at all).
- His 3 point shot has been good enough.
- His defense has been good enough.
- He has a high compete level & seems to have good leadership skills.

The biggest issue for him has been his FT%. I am hoping next season he can make some adjustments & get closer to 80%.

I think his defense will improve with time, however this season some of their defensive woes I put on the coaching staff. They don't seem to have a solid defensive plan in place. It's hard to hold players accountable when the system isn't working well.

I like him as a player & I hope this core group can figure things out over the long term.

Ya, maybe he needs to move back a little bit at the FT line like TWac? Anyways, he needs to get to at least over 75%. If he does, he's probably as valuable as Jaylen Brown. Jaylen Brown making max while we have Barrett locked in under $30 million per year for the next 3 seasons.

Jaylon Brown minus the defense maybe

[OakleyDokely]

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[Scase]

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This guy was a total scrub in NYK, but he completely turned it around with us. A jump from 54% TS to 62% TS is absurd. Credit to Darko and his coaching staff for turning his game around. And credit to Masai for identifying him as a player whose game could still be rehabilitated. Hopefully he doesn't regress to his old chucking ways next season.

Rj Barrett is more suited to be our go to scorer vs Scottie Barnes tbh. I’m not saying he’ll be our best overall player necessarily but he should definitely become more of a focal point for the team.

I see Barnes as more of the Lowry with Barrett being the demar

Scotties scoring versatility potential is much higher than Rj, hopefully he takes another step this year. RJ has an extremely limited game that is very easy to shut down. Sag off him so he can't get a head of steam, and that's pretty much his entire game. He needs to become reliable from the 3 to spread the defence out a bit more.

Any solid team that game plans for him would shut him down pretty easily, just like DD. He's a decent stop gap, but he isn't a permanent solution, again, just like DD.

[billy_hoyle]

This guy was a total scrub in NYK, but he completely turned it around with us. A jump from 54% TS to 62% TS is absurd. Credit to Darko and his coaching staff for turning his game around. And credit to Masai for identifying him as a player whose game could still be rehabilitated. Hopefully he doesn't regress to his old chucking ways next season.

Rj Barrett is more suited to be our go to scorer vs Scottie Barnes tbh. I’m not saying he’ll be our best overall player necessarily but he should definitely become more of a focal point for the team.

I see Barnes as more of the Lowry with Barrett being the demar

Scotties scoring versatility potential is much higher than Rj, hopefully he takes another step this year. RJ has an extremely limited game that is very easy to shut down. Sag off him so he can't get a head of steam, and that's pretty much his entire game. He needs to become reliable from the 3 to spread the defence out a bit more.

Any solid team that game plans for him would shut him down pretty easily, just like DD. He's a decent stop gap, but he isn't a permanent solution, again, just like DD.

Too soon to tell.

DD was very inconsistent in the playoffs. He had some monster games. Alot of that stuff is just mental. RJ was decent in his first playoffs outing last year (2023). There's a chance he's actually what he was projected to be... a tier 1 scoring prospect. There's a reason he was considered the best highschool prospect in the country going into Duke.

Barnes has the physical advantage to be a bully ball playoff scorer against anyone, he's just that much of a physical specimen. Too big for SFs and too nimble/skilled for most bigs.

[Scase]

Rj Barrett is more suited to be our go to scorer vs Scottie Barnes tbh. I’m not saying he’ll be our best overall player necessarily but he should definitely become more of a focal point for the team.

I see Barnes as more of the Lowry with Barrett being the demar

Scotties scoring versatility potential is much higher than Rj, hopefully he takes another step this year. RJ has an extremely limited game that is very easy to shut down. Sag off him so he can't get a head of steam, and that's pretty much his entire game. He needs to become reliable from the 3 to spread the defence out a bit more.

Any solid team that game plans for him would shut him down pretty easily, just like DD. He's a decent stop gap, but he isn't a permanent solution, again, just like DD.

Too soon to tell.

DD was very inconsistent in the playoffs. He had some monster games. Alot of that stuff is just mental. RJ was decent in his first playoffs outing last year (2023). There's a chance he's actually what he was projected to be... a tier 1 scoring prospect. There's a reason he was considered the best highschool prospect in the country going into Duke.

Barnes has the physical advantage to be a bully ball playoff scorer against anyone, he's just that much of a physical specimen. Too big for SFs and too nimble/skilled for most bigs.

I don't think I would say DDs playoff issues were mental, I think it's just other teams games planning for him. It's just an easy game to shut down with little versatility.

If RJ had a really good first step, I'd be more inclined to trust he could grow into it. But his limitations are physical, he's not particularly fast, he can't jump out of the gym, he's not long, etc. There's no doubt you can craft a real solid career like DD did, but I don't see it being an integral part of a championship team.

Hopefully I'm wrong, but I'm not seeing signs of him suddenly turning into a top tier scorer 6 years into his career who has barely averaged 20ppg.

Tier one scoring prospects tend to have more than a single way to score. He's a level 2 at best.

[Boogie!]

This guy was a total scrub in NYK, but he completely turned it around with us. A jump from 54% TS to 62% TS is absurd. Credit to Darko and his coaching staff for turning his game around. And credit to Masai for identifying him as a player whose game could still be rehabilitated. Hopefully he doesn't regress to his old chucking ways next season.

Rj Barrett is more suited to be our go to scorer vs Scottie Barnes tbh. I’m not saying he’ll be our best overall player necessarily but he should definitely become more of a focal point for the team.

I see Barnes as more of the Lowry with Barrett being the demar

Scotties scoring versatility potential is much higher than Rj, hopefully he takes another step this year. RJ has an extremely limited game that is very easy to shut down. Sag off him so he can't get a head of steam, and that's pretty much his entire game. He needs to become reliable from the 3 to spread the defence out a bit more.

Any solid team that game plans for him would shut him down pretty easily, just like DD. He's a decent stop gap, but he isn't a permanent solution, again, just like DD.

I can’t really take your opinion seriously considering you basically wanted to write him off when the trade happened. I don’t think you’re able to view his game objectively.