There have been plenty of articles trying to compare NY Knicks‘ sophomore RJ Barrett to his peers across the league, both from his own draft class and more established stars.
But I’m wondering, “Are there players that RJ Barrett should be modeling his game after?”
Are there players who have come before him who have been successful in a way that RJ Barrett could easily replicate?
Who would you compare the NY Knicks’ young star, RJ Barrett, to?
Listen, there’s nothing wrong with a cover song. Some cover songs are even better than the original.
“Respect” by Aretha Franklin? Cover song. Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”? Cover song. You can’t do this list without talking about Joe Cocker’s cover of “With A Little Help From My Friends.” (Wonder Years fans, stand up! Where the Paul Pfeiffer hive at?)
This goes beyond just songs. Hunter S. Thompson learned to write by typing The Great Gatsby over and over again on a typewriter before penning Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Basketball isn’t immune either. What is Lebron James if not just a better cover of Magic Johnson?
If I’m being honest, even this very concept is a cover to some degree. The Athletic‘s Mike Vorkunov, Knicks Film School‘s Jonathan Macri, and The Ringer‘s Dan Devine–three writers I really admire–have done varied versions of the same premise: Who is RJ Barrett currently, and who can he become?
It makes sense for basketball minds to spend a ton of time researching and writing about RJ Barrett.
At 20 years of age, he’s an incredibly fascinating player because as Devine wrote, RJ Barrett is “younger than 29 members of the current rookie class.”
With so many years of basketball still ahead of him, now is a great time to really decide who he wants to try to be as an offensive and defensive player.
NY Knicks’ RJ Barrett Offensive Comparison – DeMar DeRozan
Why This Player?
There are a few reasons why RJ Barrett should study the offensive game of Demar DeRozan and use it as a model as he moves forward in his career.
So many fans (me included) argued that the next evolution of RJ Barrett’s game was to further develop his three-point shot. It’s even part of the canned commentary about him in 2k (from Greg Anthony if I recall correctly).
While there has been some considerable improvement, especially over this recent stretch, Barrett is still just a 34.8% three-point shooter per Basketball-Reference.
While that figure dwarfs DeRozan’s 28.4% career mark, a look at DeRozan’s stats shows you that this doesn’t really matter.
Per Cleaning the Glass, DeRozan has spent the majority of his career in the upper half of the league in Points Per Shot Attempt.
Despite missing the ability to really threaten from that third level, he plays efficiently. There’s also a ton of overlap already in their shot charts.
RJ Barrett should also study DeRozan’s current game because DeRozan has seen a serious uptick in how he sets up his teammates. DeRozan has averaged at least five assists per game each of the last four years.
What Does RJ Need to Cover?
RJ Barrett needs to cover DeRozan’s shot selection.
I’m not arguing that Barrett needs to give up the three-ball entirely or that he needs to pattern his entire game after Derozan. What I would argue, and what stats demonstrate, is that DeRozan knows which shots to take.
According to Cleaning the Glass, DeRozan takes 58% of his shots from the midrange where he is in the 80th percentile in terms of shot accuracy. He knows his game and he leans on his strengths.
RJ Barrett does some of this. He takes most of his shots from the rim which is where he has the highest accuracy, but there are some spots where Barrett needs to continue to develop his shot selection.
Barrett’s second-most accurate shot area is the corner three where he lands in the 57th percentile according to Cleaning the Glass, but that only accounts for about 10 percent of his shot attempts (10th percentile).
Juxtapose that with being in the 84th percentile in midrange shots taken while only ranking in the 43rd percentile in the accuracy of those shots and a picture of a shooter still trying to really figure out his spots.
Some of this will develop with time. As RJ Barrett continues to log minutes, he will continue to solidify which shots are his shots.
NY Knicks’ RJ Barrett Defensive Comparison – Jimmy Butler
Why this player?
There’s the obvious Tom Thibodeau connection. So yes, that’s the first place I started. That undoubtedly was what got the ball rolling.
But the fact that they played for the same coach early in their career is like saying Willie Nelson should cover The Beatles because they both play guitar. There needs to be something more there before making that comparison.
For starters, there is their build. Both players are 6’7″ wings according to Cleaning the Glass. Butler has a bit more weight to him, but RJ Barrett has a longer wingspan.
The second reason that Butler is a good model for Barrett on the defensive end is that there are a ton of similarities between some of RJ Barrett’s advanced stats this year and Butler’s second year in the league from Basketball-Reference.
One might be slightly better here while the other might be slightly there, but they’d be tied in a game of horseshoes. And that tie is exactly why RJ Barrett should model his defensive game after Jimmy Butler.
Oh, and I guess having the same coach during those formative years can’t hurt either.
What Does RJ Need To Cover?
Looking at each player’s defensive stats from this year you’d say, “RJ Barrett needs to improve in everything but rebounding to catch Jimmy Butler,” but we all know that is an unfair comparison at this point because of how much more time Butler has been playing professionally.
You could easily point to this stat line or that stat line and argue that steal percentage or block percentage is where RJ Barrett could steal some tricks from Butler. While that’s not wrong, there is a bigger thing here.
As Devine pointed out in the same article, RJ Barrett does most of his best work right now off-ball on the defensive end. The next step for him is to become an on-ball stopper as Butler has developed into.
Barrett has shown flashes of being able to do this, but an offseason of studying Butler’s game on that end of the floor would work wonders.
Like Hunter S. Thompson to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Barrett should just do what Butler does until his own style develops.