pepe1991 wrote:Barnes is basically Gordon with bit better passing but not as athletic. Sounds like perfect 4th offensive option on team that matters
I just don't see this comp. Jalen Johnson looks more like Gordon to me. He isn't as athletic as Gordon was, but otherwise they seem fairly similar. They have similar skill sets without the feel to really maximize them.
I go back and forth on Barnes. I think his floor is a rotation player. He's just too versatile at the defensive end to not be able to carve out a role in the NBA. We know he can defend guards because he spent the whole year doing it. He looks a lot like Draymond Green, but they didn't play similar roles in college. We don't know how good Barnes would be if he were matched up against other bigs. His rebound rate was really low for his size. His stat line across the board was rather underwhelming.
I don't see point guard skills on the offensive end. It seemed to me that he spent a lot of time in the post, but he doesn't have a very good post game. He is certainly an adept passer, but I think the scouting reports I have been reading overstate how good he is at it. He isn't a zero at the offensive end because he can throw the ball around and he will find the open man. His shot isn't good and there isn't much reason to believe it ever will be. His shot looks much better when he is completely open, but he has ugly misses whenever he is under any kind of pressure. I think his biggest assets at the offensive end are that his handle is good enough to take advantage of opportunities to drive, he keeps his eyes up when he does, and he is capable of making decisions while on the move. His turnover rate was quite high though.
I think people look at his archetype and see value in it. He has good size and length and he can guard down a couple positions. He reads the floor and will move the ball to the open man. He can attack the basket when the opportunity is there. This all sounds good, but I think in Barnes' case, it sounds better than it actually is. Despite his size, I don't think he can really give you much of what you expect from a frontcourt player. College has a lot of undersized bigs whose games don't translate to the NBA. Barnes was bigger than pretty much everyone he matched up with, but he didn't dominate his opponents physically.
Tbh i still think Nesmith can become strong 2 -guard but it will take time.
Tbh i still think Nesmith can become strong 2 -guard but it will take time.
