Should RJ start or be the 6th man

[gpoon]

Games are all about adjustments, and RJ Barrett has consistently done everything asked of him. There's no reason to bench him based on hypothetical fit when we haven't even seen this team play together yet. If, as the season progresses, his defense doesn't develop or players like Ochai, Gradey, or even Jakobe outplay him, then a bench role could be considered. As it stands now, he absolutely should not be moved to the bench.

[wegotthabeet]

RJ should start. Benching him totally diminishes his trade value.

You start the season w/ Quick-RJ-Ingram-Barnes-Poeltl

There's a chance that RJ excels with more space, defenses keying in on Ingram, and gets a lot more wide open catch & shoot opportunities.

If he's off the bench, you crater his value. So, just move on and trade somebody else. By putting him on the bench, it's admitting he doesn't have the value we thought.

Does he have trade value?

I've been pushing RJ off the bench for a long time. If they can re-sign him cheaper as a result then great, otherwise you let him walk.

I just don't see the scenario where he returns value.

[Westside Gunn]

People need to stop using once in a generation basketball players for everyday comparisons. Manu played for one of the best systems in the world.

Our previous comparisons to Manu were Linas Klieza, Carlos Delfino, and Marco Belinelli. Please stop

Well - it wasn't me, it was our head coach. I'm simply using it as an argument for why he should be 6th man. That said the players you are comparing are not in the same league as RJ.

Didn't aim this at you just people in general. We do the same with the Draymond Greens and the Dirk Nowitzkis all the time

[bluerap23]

While I agree with a lot of the pro RJ sentiment. He should excel on the court with BI. He is not a pylon on defence, etc. Thing is - if our identity is going to be defence first we need a point of attack defender. Nothing against RJ, but he isn't it. Neither are any of the other starters. It just balances things out to have a very good defence, first guy with the starters that can produce a lot of offence and RJ with the bench that needs more offence.

[junot111]

RJ should start. Benching him totally diminishes his trade value.

You start the season w/ Quick-RJ-Ingram-Barnes-Poeltl

There's a chance that RJ excels with more space, defenses keying in on Ingram, and gets a lot more wide open catch & shoot opportunities.

If he's off the bench, you crater his value. So, just move on and trade somebody else. By putting him on the bench, it's admitting he doesn't have the value we thought.

Does he have trade value?

I've been pushing RJ off the bench for a long time. If they can re-sign him cheaper as a result then great, otherwise you let him walk.

I just don't see the scenario where he returns value.

Yeah, it's not like he has a lot of value now. If anything, transitioning to a 6th man might increase his value if that also translates to the team winning games, as it would define a clear role for him in this league whereas right now it's hard to envision a fit with most teams

[Spida888]

Give him a chance to see how he looks with BI in the lineup. Maybe there won't be enough touches to go around in the SL, and he's better suited to be coming off the bench.

Thing is it may lower his trade value if benched but maybe I'm overthinking this cause he may not have much value anyways. Don't think he would be happy with it either because it impacts what he gets on his next contract.

I would start him for a few minutes, then pull him out early and play him with the second unit to balance things out.

[Thaddy]

RJ should start. Benching him totally diminishes his trade value.

You start the season w/ Quick-RJ-Ingram-Barnes-Poeltl

There's a chance that RJ excels with more space, defenses keying in on Ingram, and gets a lot more wide open catch & shoot opportunities.

RJ will thrive as a 3rd option and Barnes even more so as the 4th option. They'll have opportunities to be in higher option roles when injuries likely happen.

[tsherkin]

RJ will thrive as a 3rd option and Barnes even more so as the 4th option. They'll have opportunities to be in higher option roles when injuries likely happen.

I'm curious to see if this will be true, personally.

[Potential]

It should be

Quickley / Shead
JaKobe / RJ/Agbaji
Ingram / Gradey/Agbaji
Scottie / CMB/Battle
Pöltl / Mamu/Mogbo

[Thaddy]

RJ will thrive as a 3rd option and Barnes even more so as the 4th option. They'll have opportunities to be in higher option roles when injuries likely happen.

I'm curious to see if this will be true, personally.

If he has a DPOTY season where he rebounds hard and initiates breaks and advantages then that'd be great.

If he averaged 15/11/8 I would be happy. That would be an all star on a winning team.

[tsherkin]

If he has a DPOTY season where he rebounds hard and initiates breaks and advantages then that'd be great.

If he averaged 15/11/8 I would be happy. That would be an all star on a winning team.

I will be happy with 15/8/5 with strong defense and non-incompetent scoring. That'd be delightful to me. Fitting into the broader offense, leveraging his main skills, not degrading our offense every time he shoots. I think that's in reach, and I will be happy if he does that.

[Pointgod]

Even Stevie Wonder could see that this team is much more balanced with Ochai starting and RJ coming off the bench. Barnes and Ochai can take the two toughest defensive assignments and it also keeps the ball in Ingram and Quickley’s hands while Ochai spreads the floor shooting 40%.

RJ gives is offensive pop off the bench where he can go to work on second units. It’s a no brainer but convincing him could be difficult

[LoveMyRaps]

It should be

Quickley / Shead
JaKobe / RJ/Agbaji
Ingram / Gradey/Agbaji
Scottie / CMB/Battle
Pöltl / Mamu/Mogbo

Ja’Kobe??? Helll nawwww. RJ and Ochai are both better than him.

[bboyskinnylegs]

I guess we'll see what Gradey looks like this year, but talent-wise it doesn't look like anyone has surpassed RJ as the starter yet. And if we're looking to trade RJ's contract, bringing him off the bench won't help.

[YogurtProducer]

RJ should start. Benching him totally diminishes his trade value.

I think it is kind of crazy to think NBA GM's are these close minded that a guy starting vs being a 6th man does anything to tarnish any sort of trade value.

[YogurtProducer]

RJ will thrive as a 3rd option and Barnes even more so as the 4th option. They'll have opportunities to be in higher option roles when injuries likely happen.

I'm curious to see if this will be true, personally.

If he has a DPOTY season where he rebounds hard and initiates breaks and advantages then that'd be great.

If he averaged 15/11/8 I would be happy. That would be an all star on a winning team.

There is 0 chance that Barnes averaged 11 rebounds per game when his career high is 8.2, and his career high for a single month is 9.9 (Dec 2023).

8 assists is also lunacy when he is going to have the ball in his hands even less this year with BI coming in and IQ being healthy.

More realistically we should expect year 1 / year 2 scottie numbers with (hopefully) increased efficiency and tenacious defence. Like 16/8/4 or something like that.


15/11/8 and DPOY isn't just all-star. That is better than prime Draymond

[tsherkin]

RJ should start. Benching him totally diminishes his trade value.

I think it is kind of crazy to think NBA GM's are these close minded that a guy starting vs being a 6th man does anything to tarnish any sort of trade value.

Having seen NBA GMs in action, there are more than a few for whom I could see this changing things. If only because shifting him to the bench might be leveraged as loss of faith to deflate his value and get them a better deal (assuming it's a good GM).

More realistically we should expect year 1 / year 2 scottie numbers with (hopefully) increased efficiency and tenacious defence. Like 16/8/4 or something like that.

That'd be pretty nice.

[bluerap23]

RJ should start. Benching him totally diminishes his trade value.

I think it is kind of crazy to think NBA GM's are these close minded that a guy starting vs being a 6th man does anything to tarnish any sort of trade value.

Having seen NBA GMs in action, there are more than a few for whom I could see this changing things. If only because shifting him to the bench might be leveraged as loss of faith to deflate his value and get them a better deal (assuming it's a good GM).

More realistically we should expect year 1 / year 2 scottie numbers with (hopefully) increased efficiency and tenacious defence. Like 16/8/4 or something like that.

That'd be pretty nice.

It's not like RJ's value is high any way. There are a bunch of teams that could use him (bucks, lakers, nuggets, etc), they just don't have a good trade they are willing to offer. His value may actually go up as a trade candidate if he accepts and thrives in a 6th man role.

[S.W.A.N]

If one of the others earns a starting role, then hell yes.

RJ can earn a starting role by playing solid defense.

Key word is earn. We should be in a place now where that 5th starter role isn't given to anyone by default.

[TheAlchemist23]

JaKobe time

Deport RJ