It was a tough loss for the New York Knicks last night as they let the 2nd straight winnable game against the Miami Heat slip out of their hands. The game could have been a defining moment in RJ Barrett’s young career, as he had the opportunity to tie the game as the clock expired, but he didn’t convert the layup.
The Knicks have been checking a lot of boxes on fans’ wish lists this season. The team has been competitive and they’ve seen some of their most important players take big steps forward in their development.
RJ Barrett, the team’s most touted prospect, has already shown improvements from his rookie season. The 20-year-old Barrett has increased his points, assists, and rebounds per game while also improving his field goal percentage.
There was a lot of anger among Knicks fans when Barrett didn’t make one of the All-Rookie teams last season — Fans were right to be upset.
Here’s the thing: We all know the glaring flaw that everyone talks about with Barrett – His jump shot. Barrett is shooting just 29% from 3-point range this season, and it’s been a non-stop point of discussion throughout his young NBA career.
The truth of the matter is, Barrett isn’t going to flip some switch and become a knockdown shooter this season. Can he become a good shooter later in his career?
Absolutely, but Barrett’s form as it stands right now is clunky, slow, and hard to execute off of the dribble. Of course, Barrett can get his 3-point percentage up from its’ current 29%. A good goal for this year would be anywhere from 33-35%.
So let’s not focus on the jump-shot for once and let’s look at some of the areas of RJ Barrett’s game where immediate improvement is actually attainable. Barrett has so many exceptional components to his game, and yet even with his strengths, there seems to be a higher level he hasn’t yet hit.
Knicks’ RJ Barrett: Finishing above the rim
Quite frankly, this area of Barrett’s game is perplexing. Barrett doesn’t have the most explosive first step, but he is exceptionally strong for his age. Barrett has no problem absorbing contact and staying balanced.
Barrett can consistently keep his balance when driving from the perimeter all the way into the paint. He always looks controlled when he gets to the rim. It’s what he does once he gets there that’s the problem.
While Barrett’s drives to the rim will look calculated, they frequently turn into chaos by the time he’s under the basket. He can do everything right and still blow the layup. Keep in mind, most of this article was written before last night’s game, and now we have an infamous layup to really showcase the issue.
Per Cleaning The Glass, Barrett is in the 86th percentile when it comes to the number of shot attempts at the rim he’s taking, but he shoots 57% at the rim, which is only in the 41st percentile.
It’s an improvement from last year when Barrett was just in the 22nd percentile of finishing at the rim, but it’s still not where we know he can be. How many times are we going to say “Nice move, he just didn’t finish” when watching Barrett?
Barrett doesn’t always go up strong. He loves to finish with a scoop layup, which is fine, but oftentimes it feels forced. Barrett has a nice array of footwork, but his layup package leaves much to be desired.
In spite of his length, Barrett frequently finds himself finishing under the rim. He may not have elite hops, but we know how strong he is. He has both the size and strength to go up at the rim to effectively challenge bigs.
The shot against Jimmy Butler last night was the perfect example: He drove to the basket with force, but the layup attempt, for whatever reason, was fading away from the basket. He needs to go up and take on the contact because he’s strong enough to absorb it. To say that the layup was just “Good defense by Butler” is a cop-out. Good defense gets beaten by better offense.
Improving his finishing is something that can be gained from trial and error, but Barrett can learn a lot from watching other players. In fact, newly acquired Knicks Derrick Rose may be able to help Barrett expand and improve his finishing at the rim.
Knicks: Giving RJ Barrett more pick & roll opportunities
The Knicks have an intriguing offensive set-up. So far this season, they will let RJ Barrett, and guards Elfrid Payton and Immanuel Quickley handle some ball-handling responsibilities, but Julius Randle is the team’s highest usage player. Now Derrick Rose is in the mix as well.
Randle has played exceptionally well in the point-forward role. Randle being the team’s highest usage player and RJ Barrett getting more opportunities don’t need to be mutually exclusive.
Julius Randle may be thriving, but the Knicks’ offense isn’t. They rank near the bottom of the league in nearly every offensive metric.
RJ Barrett seems comfortable operating the pick and roll. He currently ranks 2nd on the team with 6 pick-and-roll opportunities per-game, only trailing Elfrid Payton. We know that Barrett is a much bigger threat to score than Payton.
Barrett doesn’t exactly have point guard skills, but he does seem to have a good feel for operating the pick and roll. It’s a staple of any half-court offense and Barrett has a knack for correctly choosing when to attack the rim, when to whip it out to someone on the perimeter, and when to lob it up to the roller.
Having Barrett evolve into more of a playmaker will only put more strain on opposing defenses. It will take more pressure off of Randle and it will take more pressure off of the point guards, who really struggled with double teams at the top of the key against the Miami Heat.
With Barrett handling the ball, if he chooses to whip it back out to Randle, it doesn’t give teams as much time to rotate and double Randle when he gets into the post — something plenty of teams have done to try and neutralize him.
This area of Barrett’s game is largely dependent on the coaching and offensive scheme, so I hope coach Thibodeau will get Barrett more opportunities to create offense.
Knicks’ RJ Barrett: Finding his spots on the court
RJ Barrett is averaging an impressive 17 points per game in his 2nd season, and his continued growth as a scorer will depend on his ability to find his favorite spots on the court.
43% from the field is an improvement from his rookie year, but it’s still not very efficient.
I’ll emphasize that the lack of efficiency isn’t all Barrett’s fault and that the Knicks still have some fundamental team issues with floor spacing, but there are things he can do on his own to make his impact more efficient.
We know Barrett isn’t a sniper but he does have some spots on the floor where he looks more comfortable shooting from a longer range. Looking at Barrett’s shot chart, we can see that he naturally likes to go to his left.
He also shoots that in-between, 5-10 foot pullup from the left side of the court pretty efficiently compared to other areas on the floor. It’s a shot we’ve seen Barrett take a decent amount, where he pulls back from a drive and opts for a baby jump shot.
Just from watching Barrett play, I always feel more confident when he takes a short-range jumper instead of opting for a floater – something he struggles at executing.
Players’ have their signature shots — The Chris Paul mid-range pullup, the Carmelo Anthony jab-step mid-range, the Immanuel Quickley floater. Barrett doesn’t need to necessarily have a “signature move”, but he needs to be assertive in doing what is more comfortable for him on the court.
Barrett has made some significant progress as a player this season, but there is still so much room to grow. This isn’t talking about a young player getting better down the line in their career, this isn’t a discussion about “Unlocking Mitchell Robinson” and how he can maybe shoot threes and handle the ball.
This is about how RJ Barrett already seems so close to reaching another level, but there are these unrealized little nuances of the game that could actually make him a borderline All-Star. Knicks fans should be excited about RJ Barrett and the player he could become going forward.