The NY Knicks have arguably the most disrespected player in the NBA right now in RJ Barrett.
The latest vilification of Barrett came in the form of an NBA player rankings list that was put together by Seth Partnow of The Athletic. It was an extensive list that ranked players into “tiers” and it included 125 names. RJ Barrett was not one of those names.
NY Knicks: RJ Barrett left off of The Athletic’s top 125 players
Now look, Seth Partnow has a ton of credibility as an NBA writer and a former director of basketball research for the Milwaukee Bucks.
This has been a recurring theme for the NY Knicks’ young forward RJ Barrett. I’ve written about the bizarre shifting of narratives that have surrounded him since entering the league.
How a player who was a unanimous top player in his high school class, a dominant primary ball-handling scorer in college, and a top-3 pick in the NBA Draft suddenly had his potential capped… once he started playing for the NY Knicks.
It’s been a weird energy from his critics — an energy of seemingly want to die on a hill of RJ Barrett negativity where his deficiencies are what define him as a player, and his strengths and growth are completely swept under the rug.
Let’s get into this list and try to understand this.