Bill Simmons ranked Barnes as the No. 6 player in the 2021 draft class

[ForeverTFC]

The Ringer drove the Scottie for ROTY train so can't be that made at Bill for this, but also can't be surprised. Bill has always been a prisoner of the moment. Most of us who listen to him these days do it out of habit from his page 2 days when we were kids. We don't take his takes seriously, we listen for the sake of nostalgia, to hear his bad takes and see him have to eat it down the line, and to get even more satisfaction when a Boston sports team loses.

[dTox]

Not a chance Bill Simmons has watched any non-Celtics/Raptors games involving Scottie Barnes

This. BIll is as much of a Raptors expert as I am with the Charlotte Hornets.

[ForeverTFC]

Not a chance Bill Simmons has watched any non-Celtics/Raptors games involving Scottie Barnes

This. BIll is as much of a Raptors expert as I am with the Charlotte Hornets.

Over the last year? Sure. Over Scottie's career? No. Bill jumped on the Scottie ROTY bandwagon pretty quickly after KOC and Russillo brought it mainstream.

[Yuri Vaultin]

If Barnes was on the Celtics, Simmons would have Barnes ranked 3rd all time behind MJ and Bird lol

[tsherkin]

If Barnes was on the Celtics, Simmons would have Barnes ranked 3rd all time behind MJ and Bird lol

That seems likely.

[Mak]

The Ringer drove the Scottie for ROTY train so can't be that made at Bill for this, but also can't be surprised. Bill has always been a prisoner of the moment. Most of us who listen to him these days do it out of habit from his page 2 days when we were kids. We don't take his takes seriously, we listen for the sake of nostalgia, to hear his bad takes and see him have to eat it down the line, and to get even more satisfaction when a Boston sports team loses.

I never miss guess the lines. Basketball pods I have been skipping more lately, I would never miss someone like Zach. When I do catch his and Ryan’s Raptors commentary they are extra spicy/nasty lately. This is another outrageous take, but why, Bill himself would call this out 5 years ago as silly.


Sometimes it’s funny to go back and listen to his take on the Kawhi trade when it happened.

[WaltFrazier]

Mobley clearly outplayed Scottie in the early season meeting. He's taken a leap. But then his team is so much better so maybe unfair to say.

[JB7]

The Ringer drove the Scottie for ROTY train so can't be that made at Bill for this, but also can't be surprised. Bill has always been a prisoner of the moment. Most of us who listen to him these days do it out of habit from his page 2 days when we were kids. We don't take his takes seriously, we listen for the sake of nostalgia, to hear his bad takes and see him have to eat it down the line, and to get even more satisfaction when a Boston sports team loses.

I never miss guess the lines. Basketball pods I have been skipping more lately, I would never miss someone like Zach. When I do catch his and Ryan’s Raptors commentary they are extra spicy/nasty lately. This is another outrageous take, but why, Bill himself would call this out 5 years ago as silly.


Sometimes it’s funny to go back and listen to his take on the Kawhi trade when it happened.

Thank you for that idea. Went back and listened to the podcast. It was hilarious!

All the discussion was about whether DD made the Spurs a contender. Only mention of Raps was Kawhi was being punished by being sent to TO, this is a precursor to a blow up move, and Lowry looked worse than DD, in the previous year.

The hate for the Raps is real with Simmons. I just wonder were it comes from?

[canada_dry]

Is this guy relevant outside the Boston sports bubble?

#1 basketball podcast in the world...lol. it might be #1 in sports. Idk.

Whether you love it or hate it. Its listened to.

All that to say, yes.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

[tsherkin]

Is this guy relevant outside the Boston sports bubble?

#1 basketball podcast in the world...lol. it might be #1 in sports. Idk.

Whether you love it or hate it. Its listened to.

All that to say, yes.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

But again, though. He routinely says some very ridiculous things. He's popular, but popularity and quality do not have any necessary connection.

[canada_dry]

Is this guy relevant outside the Boston sports bubble?

#1 basketball podcast in the world...lol. it might be #1 in sports. Idk.

Whether you love it or hate it. Its listened to.

All that to say, yes.

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

But again, though. He routinely says some very ridiculous things. He's popular, but popularity and quality do not have any necessary connection.

Oh he does. As i said above, his Toronto Raptors takes have always been bad. Always. Gotta take that for what it is.

Still a good listen though.

I only replied because it was asked as if bill simmons is just a local boston guy when..
He has the biggest basketball/sports podcast in the world

Sent from my SM-G960W using RealGM mobile app

[tsherkin]

Still a good listen though.

Don't have to be good to be fun, sure. TNT has showcased that for years xD

I only replied because it was asked as if bill simmons is just a local boston guy when..
He has the biggest basketball/sports podcast in the world

Fair. He's certainly quite popular.

[Anticon]

These guys are generally all playing well (though not sure about Sengun). And Scottie had a so so start to the year before getting injured. So not totally surprising.

[Raps in 4]

These guys are generally all playing well (though not sure about Sengun). And Scottie had a so so start to the year before getting injured. So not totally surprising.

Any kind of ranking based on a sample size of 4-5 games is beyond useless.

[Scizzup]

I would have Scottie 3rd behind Franz/Mobley and I can see the Sengun argument also.

Sengun was just as good as Scottie last year, just because he didn't make all star in a stronger West does not change that. Cade doesn't have much of a case due to injuries/production but maybe this is the year he changes that. No to Jalen Johnson and Suggs, those are crazy.


Scottie has shown glimpses but his offense and defense impact is still far away. Bill is being too reactive here because he also has Paolo as a top 15 player, which he is not.

Edit: Wait, he doesn't have Franz as better but he has Suggs and Johnson as better players? what.

[Syd-TK3]

Lol Jalen johnson is literally doing what Barnes already did last year just with less defense

[Anticon]

These guys are generally all playing well (though not sure about Sengun). And Scottie had a so so start to the year before getting injured. So not totally surprising.

Any kind of ranking based on a sample size of 4-5 games is beyond useless.

I mean yeah, it Bill Simmons, it's not worth taking seriously in any case.

[TheFutureMM]

Glad this thread came up because it had me hot in the moment when I was listening to it.

I think he's being hard on Barnes. If I'm redrafting today, even though Suggs has been arguably better this year, I'm not taking him over Scottie Barnes. I think Mobley goes #1 without question and after that there is an argument for Cade, Barnes, Sengun, maybe Jalen Johnson.

I was more mad about him saying we were kind of **** and 29th in power rankings. If you look at the standings, yes, were bad but like we are playing so hard, outperforming vegas odds, etc. You can tell he's watched a FAT 0 games and is just hating lol.