Official Scottie All Star Barnes Thread 9

[MEDIC]

Scottie will be a multiple time all nba player when he’s on winning teams. The best version of Scottie will be unlocked when he’s more focused on play finishing rather than trying to create.

That's my thought on Scottie as well..His value will be seen moreso in winning environments.

[Raps in 4]

Scottie will be a multiple time all nba player when he’s on winning teams. The best version of Scottie will be unlocked when he’s more focused on play finishing rather than trying to create.

That's my thought on Scottie as well..His value will be seen moreso in winning environments.

I do think he'll still need to learn to score somewhat efficiently. To extract value from a Draymond-type player, you need a generational scoring talent like Steph next to him. Draymond on most teams isn't an All-NBA player. I can see Scottie possibly having a Lowry-esque career, but Lowry could score when needed. Scottie needs to get there.

[tsherkin]

Scottie is more so a jumbo secondary playmaking wing who can give you all defensive impact.

With you here. He isn't the guy you want to use as an anchor for your offense, but he has other contributing tools.

Scottie will be a multiple time all nba player when he’s on winning teams. The best version of Scottie will be unlocked when he’s more focused on play finishing rather than trying to create.

One wonders. He doesn't look like an All-NBA level player, and he'd have to change a fair bit for that to become a reality. Lower volume, higher efficiency is possible, but that looks less like All-NBA, and more like a sometime All-Star who has more in common with peak Iggy than All-NBA guys. Not that it'll matter to us if his impact is strong enough, mind, but just from a discussion perspective. Third Team last year was Booker, Steph, Haliburton, Lebron and Sabonis.

That level of play is going to be challenging for Scottie to breach, especially more than once. It would be nice if he did, but I wouldn't hang hopes on that.

[tsherkin]

Scottie will be a multiple time all nba player when he’s on winning teams. The best version of Scottie will be unlocked when he’s more focused on play finishing rather than trying to create.

That's my thought on Scottie as well..His value will be seen moreso in winning environments.

I do think he'll still need to learn to score somewhat efficiently. To extract value from a Draymond-type player, you need a generational scoring talent like Steph next to him. Draymond on most teams isn't an All-NBA player. I can see Scottie possibly having a Lowry-esque career, but Lowry could score when needed. Scottie needs to get there.

I think the projection is that as we lower his volume and lessen his creation load, we should be able to get more out of him efficiency-wise.

And that tracks. Just taking away his crappy ATB 3pt shooting, and replacing it with a more temperate shooting volume from the corners, could get him to around 34-36% from 3 and pop him back to near 57% TS. That alone would be a major improvement from him, at something like 15-17 ppg.

[HumbleRen]

Scottie is more so a jumbo secondary playmaking wing who can give you all defensive impact.

With you here. He isn't the guy you want to use as an anchor for your offense, but he has other contributing tools.

Scottie will be a multiple time all nba player when he’s on winning teams. The best version of Scottie will be unlocked when he’s more focused on play finishing rather than trying to create.

One wonders. He doesn't look like an All-NBA level player, and he'd have to change a fair bit for that to become a reality. Lower volume, higher efficiency is possible, but that looks less like All-NBA, and more like a sometime All-Star who has more in common with peak Iggy than All-NBA guys. Not that it'll matter to us if his impact is strong enough, mind, but just from a discussion perspective. Third Team last year was Booker, Steph, Haliburton, Lebron and Sabonis.

That level of play is going to be challenging for Scottie to breach, especially more than once. It would be nice if he did, but I wouldn't hang hopes on that.

I think if you put up 20/7/5 while being a top 15-20 defender on a winning team, you’ll be able to make it all nba teams. Especially with the superstar players nowadays struggling to play 65 games a year.

Randle and Siakam managed to make all nba more than once.

[tsherkin]

I think if you put up 20/7/5 while being a top 15-20 defender on a winning team, you’ll be able to make it all nba teams. Especially with the superstar players nowadays struggling to play 65 games a year.

Depends on how much winning. He was that player last year apart from the team success and it didn't much better.

Randle and Siakam managed to make all nba more than once.

To be fair, Siakam was at least a league-average guy in terms of efficiency, and scoring over 20 ppg. More like 22, 23 ppg.

Randle was a 24/10/6 guy and a 25/10/4 guy and again, 99 and 100 TS+ type of player.

Not exactly the same. It's possible, but Scottie would have to score more efficiently than he is now while maintaining and/or increasing volume. It's a fair amount to ask of him at this point, especially when it's more likely that he's going to see a volume DECREASE with BI incoming.

[HumbleRen]

I think if you put up 20/7/5 while being a top 15-20 defender on a winning team, you’ll be able to make it all nba teams. Especially with the superstar players nowadays struggling to play 65 games a year.

Depends on how much winning. He was that player last year apart from the team success and it didn't much better.

Randle and Siakam managed to make all nba more than once.

To be fair, Siakam was at least a league-average guy in terms of efficiency, and scoring over 20 ppg. More like 22, 23 ppg.

Randle was a 24/10/6 guy and a 25/10/4 guy and again, 99 and 100 TS+ type of player.

Not exactly the same. It's possible, but Scottie would have to score more efficiently than he is now while maintaining and/or increasing volume. It's a fair amount to ask of him at this point, especially when it's more likely that he's going to see a volume DECREASE with BI incoming.

Key difference will be defence. By the metrics, Scottie was a top 15 defender this year.

And also, BI will actually make Scottie score even more imo. Just like it did when Siakam was beside him last year.

[tsherkin]

Key difference will be defence. By the metrics, Scottie was a top 15 defender this year.

Possible, though very unlikely if he tanks it as a scorer as badly as he has this season. Up near to league-average, it becomes an interesting discussion, though, for sure.

And also, BI will actually make Scottie score even more imo. Just like it did when Siakam was beside him last year.

That seems unlikely as well. The main reason Barnes "scored more" with Siakam last year was that he was playing fewer minutes per game at the end of the season. otherwise, his scoring average was very similar. I mean, there's hope that he might match shot volume and increase efficiency a little, but I doubt we see a huge difference unless something very significant changes about his approach to scoring possessions.

I think it's more likely we see a boost to his raw APG, which would help him chase an All-NBA inclusion if we're above .500 (coupled to that defense).

[ArthurVandelay]

I think if you put up 20/7/5 while being a top 15-20 defender on a winning team, you’ll be able to make it all nba teams. Especially with the superstar players nowadays struggling to play 65 games a year.

Depends on how much winning. He was that player last year apart from the team success and it didn't much better.

Randle and Siakam managed to make all nba more than once.

To be fair, Siakam was at least a league-average guy in terms of efficiency, and scoring over 20 ppg. More like 22, 23 ppg.

Randle was a 24/10/6 guy and a 25/10/4 guy and again, 99 and 100 TS+ type of player.

Not exactly the same. It's possible, but Scottie would have to score more efficiently than he is now while maintaining and/or increasing volume. It's a fair amount to ask of him at this point, especially when it's more likely that he's going to see a volume DECREASE with BI incoming.

Key difference will be defence. By the metrics, Scottie was a top 15 defender this year.

And also, BI will actually make Scottie score even more imo. Just like it did when Siakam was beside him last year.

This year negative narrative: Scottie and will never be an average efficiency scorer

Last year: Agbaji will never be a good three point shooter or RJ will never fix his shot diet

I’m looking forward to next years

You’d think people would stop posting in absolute terms

[tsherkin]

This year negative narrative: Scottie and will never be an average efficiency scorer

That isn't quite the narrative. It's more that he's going to have a steep uphill climb to do that while still creating on-ball as much as he does, because he's at such a deficit in so many different areas as a scoring threat. But there's a fair amount of talk about how we can lower his volume, change his shot diet and see him get there using those paths. Also, MOST people at least frame it in terms of "unlikely" and such instead of a strict "he's never going to do it."

[HumbleRen]

Depends on how much winning. He was that player last year apart from the team success and it didn't much better.



To be fair, Siakam was at least a league-average guy in terms of efficiency, and scoring over 20 ppg. More like 22, 23 ppg.

Randle was a 24/10/6 guy and a 25/10/4 guy and again, 99 and 100 TS+ type of player.

Not exactly the same. It's possible, but Scottie would have to score more efficiently than he is now while maintaining and/or increasing volume. It's a fair amount to ask of him at this point, especially when it's more likely that he's going to see a volume DECREASE with BI incoming.

Key difference will be defence. By the metrics, Scottie was a top 15 defender this year.

And also, BI will actually make Scottie score even more imo. Just like it did when Siakam was beside him last year.

This year negative narrative: Scottie and will never be an average efficiency scorer

Last year: Agbaji will never be a good three point shooter or RJ will never fix his shot diet

I’m looking forward to next years

You’d think people would stop posting in absolute terms

I don’t think it’s a narrative. Scottie simply hasn’t been efficient throughout his career. He’s never been league average yet.

I wouldn't use absolute terms as of yet but I don’t blame anyone for doing so.

[Basketball_Jones]

We’re essentially swapping Siakam for Ingram over the next 3 years. Ingram is probably more comparable to a guy like Demar in terms of where he operates though, plus Scottie is older and presumably going to be more improved. And we have more support behind those two rather than just Fred and OG. Or Schroeder lol. I think I’m optimistic but hoping I’m not let down again.

[ArthurVandelay]

Key difference will be defence. By the metrics, Scottie was a top 15 defender this year.

And also, BI will actually make Scottie score even more imo. Just like it did when Siakam was beside him last year.

This year negative narrative: Scottie and will never be an average efficiency scorer

Last year: Agbaji will never be a good three point shooter or RJ will never fix his shot diet

I’m looking forward to next years

You’d think people would stop posting in absolute terms

I don’t think it’s a narrative. Scottie simply hasn’t been efficient throughout his career. He’s never been league average yet.

I wouldn't use absolute terms as of yet but I don’t blame anyone for doing so.

Maybe not a narrative but the minority are usually the loudest….and most consistent…and usually wrong.

[tsherkin]

Maybe not a narrative but the minority are usually the loudest….and most consistent…and usually wrong.

So what I've noticed so far is that the pro "Scottie will figure it out" crowd doesn't really have anything but feelings to use as defense for his potential to evolve as a scorer at his present volume. By contrast, those skeptical of Scottie can point to a whole slew of different elements of his game and first 4 seasons, plus broader player development trends, which don't line up with the idea that Scottie is going to turn into a good enough scorer to merit the sort of usage we have him at now. There's a fair amount of "he'll get better because Reasons (TM)" and not much else.

If you're going to inappropriately characterize a given sub-group here, the reverse can be done. I'd be delicate about it.

I think everyone would be happiest if Scottie was able to buck the various trends and issues facing him. For the sake of the team, that'd be awesome, right? There's a laundry list working against him, though, which is why the skepticism is there. He hasn't made much of a development. His most exciting elements are a low-volume mid-range game and two months of 3pt shooting in an injury-shortened season, which is comparable in trend to several other seasons. He's got zero elite traits as a scorer and a bunch of noteworthy deficits which have historically been quite difficult to overcome (especially in aggregate). And even in two seasons on lower volume with less responsibility, he didn't even make league average efficiency. And now the expectation is, in the absence of an improvement curve with respect to his broader efficiency, that he's supposed to maintain higher volume and dramatically improve his efficiency with no concrete reasoning as to why.

Optimism, I understand. We want to believe in the best because it's recreation and it'll be more awesome. And Scottie IS still pretty young, and hit the league younger still, so developmental patterns aren't the same as they used to be. That's legit. But there's not really a lot of acknowledgement of the size of the hole he's in for reaching the goal we seem to be after with him, which is perhaps the reason the volume of the conversation goes up at times. People like feeling as if someone's actually hearing what they're saying, after all.

[ArthurVandelay]

(Before I post this, in no way shape or form am I suggesting Scottie is in the same level as Giannis)

Reading about Giannis and couldn’t help but think of Scottie when speaking of evolution of Giannis’ game.

The late, great Jonathan Tjarks used to muse about the possibility of Giannis. I always found it fascinating that his thoughts were typically presented as lamentations. Back then, Antetokounmpo was still experimenting with who he felt he ought to be as a player, still toying with the notions of positionality and what it meant to be a lead creator at his size—still hearing the faint whispers of years past suggesting he become a true point guard. Tjarks would wonder what Giannis might look like if he stopped trying to fight the current of the player he was so obviously becoming.

“Giannis should be building his game from the inside-out, not the outside-in,” Tjarks wrote at the beginning of 2021, less than half a year before Giannis and the Bucks reached the pinnacle. “Shots at the rim and the 3-point line are the most efficient, but you can’t skip steps along the way when working on your jumper. The 3-pointer is the dessert. They should be the reward for a big man who has put in the work closer to the basket. Midrange shots are like eating your vegetables. They’re not as glamorous or as fun, but they are more important. For Giannis, having those moves in his bag would force defenses to change how they guard him.”

Four years later, Tjarks’s vision has been realized. Antetokounmpo turned himself into one of the best midrange scorers in the league overnight. Giannis shot 46.2 percent on long 2s at least 17 feet out this season, according to Synergy Sports. Only long-2 legend DeMar DeRozan had more attempts from that range, and of the top 10 in attempts—a list that includes superstars like Devin Booker, Anthony Edwards, Donovan Mitchell, LeBron James, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander—only Booker shot a higher percentage from that range this season.

It’s a welcome addition to his game that has added new dimensions to his playmaking—the extra beat of consideration from defenses guarding him at the elbows creates new driving lanes and kick-out possibilities. It unlocks a vision of Giannis that, for years, had yet to be fully tapped: Antetokounmpo at the 5, with shooters and switchable defenders all around him, giving him the space to make plays on both ends of the floor. Milwaukee’s best lineup in Game 1, and its best lineup for much of the regular season’s final stretch, has hewed to that template.

https://www.theringer.com/2025/04/22/nba/giannis-antetokounmpo-nba-trade-rumors-bucks-playoffs-2025

[Tacoma]

This year negative narrative: Scottie and will never be an average efficiency scorer

Last year: Agbaji will never be a good three point shooter or RJ will never fix his shot diet

I’m looking forward to next years

You’d think people would stop posting in absolute terms

I don’t think it’s a narrative. Scottie simply hasn’t been efficient throughout his career. He’s never been league average yet.

I wouldn't use absolute terms as of yet but I don’t blame anyone for doing so.

Maybe not a narrative but the minority are usually the loudest….and most consistent…and usually wrong.

If there's loudness you speak of from the minority, it is from actual evidence they've provided that speaks volumes.

In light of preponderance of evidence that points to concerns over his inefficiencies on offense, we are offered excuses such as Siakam was holding him back and lately its been he needs to be on a winning team to be effective, and so on. One is left pondering, so are you saying it's the team's fault now and when will Scottie be held responsible for himself?

Scottie has been coddled by Raptors coaching & management giving him every opportunity to succeed from Day 1. The only Raptors player who have been more spoiled was Vince Carter. Frankly, it's time to dispose of those kid gloves and coaching to demand he earn his upcoming max contract.

This means he needs to improve on his work ethic to be more like DeRozan and less like Vince. This means he needs to be more focused to work on his game & stamina so that he goes all out for the full game like Lowry, instead of just showing up (sometimes) in the dying minutes of the 4th Q.

In defiance of evidence provided by tsherkin & others, I remain optimistic. But if Scottie doesn't come out of the gate like he's going for All-NBA status next season, it's going to be a big disappointment. Is that fair? Well... the Scottie excusers like you have set the bar.

[Spates]

I think people are downcast on Scottie projections because numerous archetypes have failed so far. Clearly he isn't magic Johnson. He's also not our superstar wing as many had hoped. Even tamer projections likening him to Draymond or Diaw don't quite work because his approach to the game is quite different.

There was always some truth to Aaron Gordon's comments. I'd surmise it as 'don't try to be a star, be a star in your role'. If you're good enough at what you do doesn't that make you a star? I guess it depends on the role and the aesthetics of it and all. People out there would take Kyrie over Curry because of the 'package'. If you'll allow me to take his comments a bit out of context--Bradley Beal scoffed at molding his game similar to Jrue Holiday. The n, there are stans for LaMelo. He plays the game without a clue but it looks good.

Scottie is a utility guy. He's a glue guy. It might be vague to say but his ideal role is to make the correct plays and elevate the team with high effort. I think Jak mentioned in the end of season pressers -- learning to make the next pass to keep the offense moving rather than looking for an assist. Same applies to Scottie. Maybe were looking at the difference between 'creating' and 'facilitating'. Rather than creating a shot, you're facilitating the next action for a teammate where to dribble, pass, or shoot is easy to determine.

I think Scottie is in the mold of the Derrick Whites or Josh Harts. Plus he's Jumbo. A superb connective piece that gets things done. Derrick White might be the second most impactful player on Boston but he isn't a 'star' by standard definition. Regardless, he propels winning.

[GLF]

Maybe not a narrative but the minority are usually the loudest….and most consistent…and usually wrong.

So what I've noticed so far is that the pro "Scottie will figure it out" crowd doesn't really have anything but feelings to use as defense for his potential to evolve as a scorer at his present volume. By contrast, those skeptical of Scottie can point to a whole slew of different elements of his game and first 4 seasons, plus broader player development trends, which don't line up with the idea that Scottie is going to turn into a good enough scorer to merit the sort of usage we have him at now. There's a fair amount of "he'll get better because Reasons (TM)" and not much else.

If you're going to inappropriately characterize a given sub-group here, the reverse can be done. I'd be delicate about it.

I think everyone would be happiest if Scottie was able to buck the various trends and issues facing him. For the sake of the team, that'd be awesome, right? There's a laundry list working against him, though, which is why the skepticism is there. He hasn't made much of a development. His most exciting elements are a low-volume mid-range game and two months of 3pt shooting in an injury-shortened season, which is comparable in trend to several other seasons. He's got zero elite traits as a scorer and a bunch of noteworthy deficits which have historically been quite difficult to overcome (especially in aggregate). And even in two seasons on lower volume with less responsibility, he didn't even make league average efficiency. And now the expectation is, in the absence of an improvement curve with respect to his broader efficiency, that he's supposed to maintain higher volume and dramatically improve his efficiency with no concrete reasoning as to why.

Optimism, I understand. We want to believe in the best because it's recreation and it'll be more awesome. And Scottie IS still pretty young, and hit the league younger still, so developmental patterns aren't the same as they used to be. That's legit. But there's not really a lot of acknowledgement of the size of the hole he's in for reaching the goal we seem to be after with him, which is perhaps the reason the volume of the conversation goes up at times. People like feeling as if someone's actually hearing what they're saying, after all.

I don’t want to get too into this convo because I think the negativity I’m seeing about Scottie has gone too far left now, but I expected it because people on this board always turn on players right when they have a bad year. But last off season people had plenty numbers and used history to show why Ochai and RJ would never improve or change their games and they are who they are. Especially RJ, because like Scottie he’s been in the league for a few years now even though he’s still young and he had a lot of opportunity and usage but never was efficient. They were wrong and have been very silent on both players since being proven wrong. Oh and they too were saying it’s “very unlikely” and not quite saying it for sure won’t happen, just so they could cover their ass if they were wrong lol.

I just wanted to add that, but I’m not trying to get into any back and forth about Scottie. You said your piece ad nauseam at this point. I personally believe in him and think he will prove many people wrong next season. I just refuse to look at young players and say just because history shows this that means you’ll never be that. Especially since too many players in the modern NBA have shown they can improve later on in their careers. Especially since he was experimenting and trying a lot of new things in a rebuilding season. And I want to be clear, I do not think Scottie will be a number 1 option type guy on offence, never did, but there are so few of those in the league so that means nothing to me.

You can be a max player and a great player who impacts winning and not be a number one option. Scottie even with his down year impacts winning and did play All defence level defence. We would not have ended up middle of the pack defensively if not for Scottie and once we start winning y’all will see what I’m saying. It’s easy not to see it now because we weren’t a good team. But anyway, to each their own. I personally can’t wait for next season and for Scottie to come back improved. If that makes me some “Scottie stan” so be it.

[ArthurVandelay]

I don’t think it’s a narrative. Scottie simply hasn’t been efficient throughout his career. He’s never been league average yet.

I wouldn't use absolute terms as of yet but I don’t blame anyone for doing so.

Maybe not a narrative but the minority are usually the loudest….and most consistent…and usually wrong.

If there's loudness you speak of from the minority, it is from actual evidence they've provided that speaks volumes.

In light of preponderance of evidence that points to concerns over his inefficiencies on offense, we are offered excuses such as Siakam was holding him back and lately its been he needs to be on a winning team to be effective, and so on. One is left pondering, so are you saying it's the team's fault now and when will Scottie be held responsible for himself?

Scottie has been coddled by Raptors coaching & management giving him every opportunity to succeed from Day 1. The only Raptors player who have been more spoiled was Vince Carter. Frankly, it's time to dispose of those kid gloves and coaching to demand he earn his upcoming max contract.

This means he needs to improve on his work ethic to be more like DeRozan and less like Vince. This means he needs to be more focused to work on his game & stamina so that he goes all out for the full game like Lowry, instead of just showing up (sometimes) in the dying minutes of the 4th Q.

In defiance of evidence provided by tsherkin & others, I remain optimistic. But if Scottie doesn't come out of the gate like he's going for All-NBA status next season, it's going to be a big disappointment. Is that fair? Well... the Scottie excusers like you have set the bar.

Scottie excuser? Ok.

I prefer Scottie realist. It’s been obvious this season he isn’t a first option, go to scorer. He isnt a PG either. The front office realized that and traded for a legit scorer, or as they put it in a leak, IIRC, a running mate. The coaching staff had him playing many different roles this season. At this point we all know that Scottie isn’t a primary scorer, yet that is the role he played most of the season and that continues to be the expectation from people. That isn’t him. I was hopeful in his 2nd and 3rd year that could be him, but it’s clear as day now he isn’t. That doesn’t mean he isn’t a great basketball player and can’t contribute to winning in a role that isn’t a primary scorer.

Scottie All-NBA, like 90% of All-NBA player selections, is going to be based on team performance/wins. That isn’t an excuse as for his play this season, that is a fact. The team made no bones this was a development season. I believe a big part of Scottie’s development this season was recognizing what he isn’t.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep the seats warm on the bandwagon for next season.

[tsherkin]

You can be a max player and a great player who impacts winning and not be a number one option. Scottie even with his down year impacts winning and did play All defence level defence. We would not have ended up middle of the pack defensively if not for Scottie and once we start winning y’all will see what I’m saying. It’s easy not to see it now because we weren’t a good team. But anyway, to each their own. I personally can’t wait for next season and for Scottie to come back improved. If that makes me some “Scottie stan” so be it.

I'm very much with the idea that Scottie doesn't have to be a #1 player to be useful to us. In my view, he could very easily be a 16 / 8/ 5 type of guy playing good defense and that would be really useful to us. Also, I wouldn't call you a "Scottie stan" for having optimism in a player on the team. I might disagree with what is likely, and I tend to respond when people make certain kinds of proclamations and arguments (though that doesn't pertain to you), but merely having faith in a player? There's nothing wrong with that. Even if it is just feelings with limited basis, like I said, this is recreation, so not everyone wants to let certain things get in the way of hoping for something better, right? I can appreciate that. It is part of why I have been trying to pivot a chunk of my participation in Scottie-related discussions to how we can use him effectively instead of endlessly emphasizing his limitations and my view of his potential as a scorer.

He isn't our franchise player, but that doesn't mean he can't be valuable, right? Guys who are legit franchise players are not common. And a bunch of Scottie discussion has orbited this idea that he's magically going to become that level of player, which is violently unlikely. But him improving is far more likely than that, especially with an improved offensive environment around him. BI in particular should be a big help, as will health and consistency from RJ and Quickley. There is the possibility that he'll keep adding little wrinkles to his game.

HiJiNX and others have been talking about the Demar model; that's possible. Demar developed himself in a fairly atypical way, but that doesn't make it impossible to replicate. He added a bit here and there every year and slowly got better. By the time he was 30, his regular season self was very different than it was when he was a fresh face in the league, for sure. And we've seen any capacity from Scottie to improve, so maybe he'll develop his J. He can certainly get to spots pretty well.

I'm very interested to see how we approach next season, and in an optimistic sense. I think that we have a plethora of offensive talent. We don't have tier-2 guys on the team, so there's some tempering of upper bound, but after missing the playoffs, that's far less relevant. With BI, Scottie, RJ, Quick and then maybe Gradey and Battle, we have some interesting pieces around whom we should forge a far better offense than this year. It would challenging for us to be much WORSE than we were this season, after all, so there should be only upwards to travel from here.

RJ, as many have discussed, looked better almost immediately as soon as he got more off-ball. His seasonal numbers are bad, but he ended up having the second-best season of his career in terms of his 2P%. Not as good as last year, but then, he started the year in non-optimal deployment. Looked great in December and January and then he was missing all kinds of games in the latter half of the season and inconsistency got ahold of him. But he has some utility to us, and if he can keep himself semi-competent at the line, then he'll be a solid option going forward. BI is a known quantity. 20 on league-average efficiency plus his passing (and his ability to self-create) should take a lot of pressure off of Scottie in particular. Same same with Quickley, who was only here for 33 games this season.

The burden of volume should be eased off Scottie's shoulders a little bit with some of these guys playing more games, and spending some time creating for him instead of him having to create for everyone else. If we were evaluating someone as a franchise player, that'd be a little damning, but because we have the opportunity to go for more of a distributed model for now, it isn't really a big deal. A little less volume, a little more passing support and some plays run for him to receive better looks?

That should absolutely help him, and us.

One of the troubles of constantly finding one's self on a given side of an argument is that it shapes perception of opinion that is sometimes at odds with the truth. I think Scottie can be very useful to us. I don't think much of using him in a volume scoring role or of his upper bound, but we certainly aren't optimizing his possession distribution at all. I very much agree with the idea that he has value to us and can be part of us succeeding going forward. I don't think he needs to be like an 8 FGA/g player in order to do that, and I'm very much interested in seeing how we use him with our full roster next season. And whatever he can bring in terms of any improvements over the off-season, for sure.