NY Knicks: Responding to RJ Barrett being left off ESPN’s “Top 25 under 25”

The NY Knicks have a budding star in RJ Barrett, and yet, there are still some people around the league who don’t acknowledge the 20-year-old’s production and high-end potential. Barrett has been an integral part of a Knicks team that has far exceeded expectations this season. New York is firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff race, and they wouldn’t be where they are now without RJ Barrett.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen RJ Barrett disrespect. Barrett was infamously left off the NBA All-Rookie teams last season for players like Terence Davis and Eric Paschall. The argument against Barrett always revolved around Barrett’s low-efficiency numbers playing in a high-volume role – These arguments always ignored the Knicks’ terrible floor spacing, lack of surrounding talent, and the fact that Barrett was already a focal point for opposing defenses. The 22-year old “Terence Davis” averaged 16.8 minutes for a game and was able to hit a few open 3s for an Excellent Raptors team… nice. It’s a classic example of people who go through box scores without watching film from teams around the league.

NY Knicks: The RJ Barrett disrespect is real

So here were are in Barrett’s sophomore season where he has made significant strides in his game. Strides that not even I thought would be so large so soon. Barrett has already begun to debunk some of the negative myths about his future in the NBA. He’s developed into a fantastic 2-way player, and yet, we rarely hear a peep from anyone outside of NY Knicks circles.

What happened to the number 1 high school recruit, the player who was part of the nationally recognized big-3 at Duke, the player who was a unanimous top-3 selection in the 2019 NBA draft? Where has all that star-potential talk gone since he joined the NBA? Let’s look at the narrative around Barrett’s career thus far.

NY Knicks: RJ Barrett has always been a budding star

ESPN, Rivals, 247sports, it didn’t matter which sports outlet it was, they all unanimously ranked RJ Barrett as the #1 recruit in his class. Barrett had already made waves in The U19 Fiba World Cup for Team Canada, where he dropped 38 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 assists in an upset win vs The United States. Barrett would lead Canada to the title.

The Monteverde Academy prep school star had won National Player of The Year and received offers from just about every basketball powerhouse college in the country and ultimately chose to commit to Duke, where his stardom would reach new heights.

Barrett became part of a “Big-3” at Duke along with Zion Williamson and Cam Reddish. The trio was about as high-profile a group of college basketball teammates as there has ever been – They dominated ESPN headlines.

Of course, Zion Williamson’s freakish athleticism made him the de-facto leader of the group, but he and Barrett both put up remarkable numbers. As a freshman at Duke, Barrett poured in 22.6 points per game on 45.4% from the floor while adding 7.6 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game – Huge numbers for The NCAA. Despite not being a natural point guard, Barrett effectively took on a lot of ball-handling responsibility at Duke and dominated in multiple areas of the game.

NY Knicks: RJ Barrett’s pre-lottery narrative

When Barrett’s college career had come to a close and he was preparing the draft, there was a clear top-3: Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, and RJ Barrett. That seemed to be the logical order for the top-3 that most agreed on, but the Morant/Barrett debate was alive, with ESPN listing Barrett and Morant both projected to be drafted 2 or 3. That was until, of course, The Knicks were slotted in the #3 slot. It went from a top 3 player draft to a top 2.

Even with Barrett becoming The NY Knicks’ likely pick, there was plenty of buzz around his talent. A tall, slithery scorer who had been in the spotlight for years now – A lot of teams were high on Barrett’s potential. Articles poured in about teams wanting to trade up to secure a potential franchise player in RJ Barrett. A physical freshman with a long wingspan who could project to be a high-level scorer, who checks every mental box you want in a young player. Who wouldn’t want to build around that?

Did RJ Barrett struggle in his rookie season? Absolutely. Who wouldn’t struggle as a rookie thrown into a massive role on the 2019-20 New York Knicks? Through those struggles, he flashed as a playmaker, shot creator, and high-level defender. You could see high potential, there just was not a lot of consistency.

Now, in 2021, he’s begun to put it all together. Let’s take a look at the stats and impact that the 20-year old Barrett has had thusfar in his sophomore season.

NY Knicks: RJ Barrett’s Sophomore leap

There are some areas of RJ Barrett’s growth that seemed like a foregone conclusion, and there are other jumps in his 2021 game that were hard to see happening this early on in his career. Let’s look at the traditional stats on the surface: 17.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists on 45.0% from the field, 38.0% from 3, and 73.5% from the free-throw line. I’m not sure many people know about those shooting percentages.

Shooting has been the non-stop criticism of RJ Barrett’s game coming into the league. Can he be a shooter from long-range? A 3 level scorer? You saw the season-long percentages already, and if you take out the first 5 games of the season from December and just look at RJ Barrett’s stats in the year 2021, he’s shooting 41.7% from 3. Not so bad.

I still wonder if Barrett will be a high-level shooter off-the-dribble. Those question marks are very real. Barrett has a slower release that typically needs to be squared to the basket to be effective. Even though Barrett takes far more catch-and-shoot 3s per game than he does pull-up 3s (3 pointers taking immediately after dribbling) his pull-up 3 percentage of 36.4% is solid. So at this point, we know that Barrett can be a very effective spot-up 3-point shooter and he’s continued to improve as an off-the-dribble shooter – Seems like a pretty nice trajectory for someone’s “Biggest weakness”.

RJ Barrett’s numbers at the rim and from the mid-range have all gone up this season. RJ Barrett has always had tremendous strength (Already one of the strongest players in the league, you rarely see him affected by contact) but his touch at the rim was chaotic. He looks far more decisive with his finishes in year 2. The kid has always had no problem getting to the rim – It’s been how he finishes. He still is inconsistent finishing at the rim, but he’s already made nice improvements from his rookie season.

He can still add to his move set, but really, he uses his long length and strength to get the rim without flashy dribbles or elite speed. Not having elite burst or a wide range of crossovers isn’t a death sentence, just ask Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, and other players who have made a living scoring using strength, reach, and footwork.

NY Knicks: RJ Barrett’s Defense

Barrett’s defense, like his offense, is not the flashiest you’ll see. You won’t see many chase-down blocks or pick-pockets, but you will notice how difficult it is for opponents to get by him. The 20-year-old Canadian has made big strides on defense this season – He’s been consistent in his stance and dares people to shoot. Barrett’s long reach allows him to smother any space closing out shooters, and his formidable strength makes it strenuous for ballhandlers to get through to the rim. He’s been a huge part of the NY Knicks’ success on defense.

He’s been able to guard smaller guards and even some power forwards. He typically guards the opponent’s best wings. Opponents’ field goal percentage goes down 1.5% and their 3-point percentage by 1.7% when guarded by RJ Barrett.

The Maple Mamba’s history as a top prospect and further development as a shooter, playmaker, and perimeter defender have him poised to become one of the top 2-way wings in the game. Based on who RJ Barrett is mentally and his talent as a basketball player, Is there any way he doesn’t become a perennial 22-6-4 player? One who also plays lockdown defense? It seems like a nice bet to make.

For whatever reason, there are some players who seem to be either worse now, have lower ceilings, or both, who made the ESPN Top 25 Under 25. Let’s take a look at some of the nonsense.

NY Knicks: RJ Barrett belong on ESPN’s “List”

Let’s just get a few things straight. Anytime anyone makes a list/ranking of NBA players, there’s always going to be a debate. I love the discourse and different arguments that can be had talking about younger players and their potential outcomes, and there’s never going to be a perfect list.

If you gave me this list that ESPN created for their “Top 25 Under 25” without telling me what it was a list of, I would have no idea. It would seem like a random assortment of good young players. Based on the list they put together here, it doesn’t seem to be based solely on present-day production nor on future potential/ceiling.

Now in fairness, 2 of the ESPN writers actually did include NY Knicks’ RJ Barrett in their lists, but it ultimately wasn’t enough for him to make the final cut. I’m not sure what really was going on here, but let’s start with some head-scratchers.

Jarrett Allen? Remember, I am not saying anyone on this list is a bad player by any stretch of the imagination, but you slotted the 22-year old rim runner/shot-blocker as a better young prospect than RJ Barrett? Is there a world where NBA franchises are taking the rim running center over a 2-way player/secondary playmaker on the wing? The logic here is just bizarre – Jarrett Allen is a fine young player, but the idea that his value is higher than Barrett’s is… interesting.

Mikal Bridges being ranked 17th was also… interesting. Again, I am a huge Mikal Bridges fan. The 24-year old who will be 25 this summer has had a great season as a secondary option playing alongside Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and DeAndre Ayton. I would love to have Mikal Bridges on my team. What does he project as? Prime Trevor Ariza? Maybe Luol Deng? Again, those are great things to become, but Bridges takes just over 1 shot off the dribble per game. Let’s see where RJ Barrett is at age 24, 4 years from now.

John Collins? A great rim runner, pick and roll partner who’s become a solid shooter. He’s going to be a really good player for a long time, but I’m not sure I see him as any sort of essential piece of a young core. The league isn’t starving for players of John Collins’ skillset. There’s no playmaking and not much defense from Collins. I’d gladly take Barrett over him.

There’s also Collin Sexton, who plays a premium position as a point guard, but I’m not exactly sure if that position is for him. He’s terrific at getting to the rim, and in his defense, hasn’t had a ton of talent around him.

Sexton is not a great passer – his assists numbers (Barely higher than Barrett’s) come with a huge usage rate and he struggles to create for others. The defense… is nonexistent. Sexton ranks 167th/183 eligible players in defensive box +/- and I’m not sure there are many flashes or anything about his physical profile of anything to prove that he can get significantly better in that half of the game.

Anthony Edwards ranks 181st/183rd in the same category. Love Anthony Edwards as a scorer, not sure what else he will bring down the line, but he certainly has the raw tools to work with.

At the end of the day, we can debate even more players. Michael Porter’s non-existent defense, Tyrese Haliburton’s ceiling, or why Lonzo Ball made the list over Barrett. I personally think Barrett is an obvious choice to slot in around the 17-21 slots in the top 25 under 25.

A touted prospect since high school who has taken astronomic leaps in his game in just one season, it’s hard to imagine RJ Barrett not continuing to develop into one of the NBA’s premier wing players for The NY Knicks. Watching him play and develop – Where his game is at technically, physically, and mentally, and how he’s progressed already – It seems obvious that we’re looking at a potential All-NBA defender, who puts up 20-25 points per game, dominates the glass (Already does) for his position, and can even flirt with 5 assists per game.

RJ Barrett will just continue to handle the disrespect and use it as fuel. Let’s check back in a few years and bring the receipts.