RJ Barrett

Name Age/DOB Height Weight Wingspan (estimate, if N/A) Standing Reach Position (role) RJ Barrett 18; 6/14/2000 6’7 202 6’9 8’6.5 Wing scorer (best as secondary/tertiary? option)

PPG RPG (oRB%/dRB%) APG (TO) AST% (TO%) Blocks (BLK%) Steals (STL%) TS% 3PT% (3Pr) FT% (FTr) FG% (2PTFG%) 22.6 7.6 4.8/17.2 4.3 (3.2) 23.5 (13.2) .4 (1.2) .9 (1.4) 53.2% 30.8% (.338) 66.5% (.319) 45.4% (52.9%

Athleticism / Frame Overview: Transition athlete, half-court stiff. Does not have much wiggle to his game, does not have much burst, and does not rise well in traffic. STRONG frame, though (and can probably get stronger, though I’m not sure if the benefit will be worth it in the long run given his current athletic limitations). Aggressive using his strength on offense.

Mentality Overview: Aggressive scorer who will force shots on offense. I doubt his overall “feel for the game” on both ends – seems very rough and like he does not process things quickly on either end. Defensively, he does not compete. He “looks” like he is trying, but he gives up the second the ball handler / his man gets by him. Does not fight through screens – relies heavily on switching.

Role: Best suited as a secondary playmaker – someone who can attack off the catch and not be forced to create for himself or others – poor wiggle and feel has me thinking this would be a bad role for him. Attacking while the defense is swinging would also help alleviate the lack of burst, as it would give him a runway and potentially more holes to attack. However, I do think he has the ability to be a primary option against backups. Should probably be put on the opposing team’s worst offensive player.

Outcome:

Medium / Realistic Outcome: Inefficient, volume scoring offensive minded player with secondary passing and below average defense. I don’t think he will ever be particularly efficient, unless his shooting really comes around, he’s able to get to the FT line at a high rate, and/or his finishing improves. Something of a Derozan in Toronto level player (though a better passer). The lack of shot versatility hurts him a lot. Someone who you can give the ball to, and he’ll score for the team / be the primary option on a poor efficiency team. Needs to continue to open up to passing, though.

High End: Above average efficiency, volume scoring G with average defense. MUST improve feel if he is to ever come close to this. If he is drafted to a team that will not give him free-rein day one and make him “earn” his playmaking duties, I think he could reach it – lots of film sessions. Start off as a secondary creator, work on decision-making while improving actual skills/athleticism, and take it slowly. Needs to play within himself, check his ego, and not have the “Kobe mentality” that he had this year and in the past. *Not sure if he will accept this, based on the information I have heard about RJ’s personality.*

Low End : Inefficient scoring G. As a power G, if he is unable to improve his jumper, continues his tunnel vision while driving, and stays a poor defensive player, he will have very little going for him. It will be tough to stay in the NBA if he just misses on everything that he needs to improve upon.

Offensive Swing Factor: Improve feel, finishing ability, decision-making, and shooting (stepbacks and C&S).

Defensive Swing Factor: Consistency, awareness, effort, and use of strength.

Offense:

Synergy Profile: Scoring : 60th percentile; Scoring + assists 55th percentile (totals if percentile not available)

Jump Shots C&S Around Basket Runner Dribble J Transition PnR Score PnR Pass Spot Up ISO Off Screen/DHO 48 41 44 44 64 60 49 47 49 59 34/22

Jumper: Not a good jump shooter right now and does not have consistent form – misses long and wide. Low release point. Turns his entire body when he shoots and, aside from lining up his left arm with the basket, and he does not square up. Inconsistent release point – sometimes it’s fluid, other times (usually off movement) there is a hitch. Long term, I think he can hit some simple C&S attempts and will be able to play off ball a little. *Side note, on his stepback jumpers, he often lands with a straight back leg – that’s going to kill his cartilage.* Looks comfortable taking C&S jumpers if they’re off very minimal movement (just flashing to the open spot) as well as with stepback jumpers…he’s just not consistent with either, and I don’t know if he ever will be, given his form.

Shot Versatility: Not much shot versatility – really needs to set his feet before he can shoot. He’s reliant on pure C&S jumpers off minimal movement and off the dribble jumpers (mostly stepbacks). He can create space with his strength (pushoffs, lower shoulder) and with his stepback, but he does not hit them consistently (yet — in time, I think he could start hitting them…though I think he needs to create a bit more space here). He has flashed the ability to drive hard as if he’s going to the rim and then stop for a jumper – lead leg goes forward to sell the drive, then he pulls that back to set himself. C&S jumpers will likely be fine in the long term (with some minor tweaks in his form), but he’s not going to be able to run off screens for C&S attempts (unless he’s able to set himself with a lot of time before pulling). He’s not quick off screens and his feet need to be set before he’s able to shoot. If he’s able to make the release a bit more smooth, I will buy into the shot a bit more.

Shot IQ: Does not possess great shot IQ. Throughout the season, RJ constantly barreled into extra paint defenders and forced up shots without seeing corner for kickouts, would take shots early in the shot clock / without seeing if a better shot opened up, and take bad jumpers with open teammates. His strength was getting into the paint, but his tunnel vision pretty much negated his ability to use that strength to benefit his teammates and get them open looks. 50% of his attempts came from jumpers, which is far too much for someone with a shot as inconsistent as his. On the positive side, he did not take many mid-range jumpers. Settled for long floaters/push shots from time to time, but the majority of his shots came from 3 (which was problematic in that he is a bad shooter, but the shot selection is good from a modern NBA POV).

Finishing: Average finisher, but he can draw fouls (though not at a particularly high rate, nor with much craft – he’s just barreling into defenders). Due to his lack of wiggle and craft, he’ll have to try work the refs and really hope for the benefit of the doubt to get some calls. He got some ticky-tack calls throughout the season, but he never really sold them – the refs just gave it to him. He’s a power driver / power G, and you can say the same thing about his touch – it was more power related, little craft or actual touch on his finishes. Can finish through contact (27 and1s, high number for a wing) and was not afraid of driving into the paint, but his touch itself needs work with both hands. Dislodges defenders in/around the paint well on drives and at the rim. Finishing looks a lot smoother / more comfortable with his left hand, though he can finish with his right a bit (including through contact). Decent – solid scoop finisher. Just from eyeballing it, it looks like the ball does not come off soft – what I mean is it looked like the ball would come off the palm of his hand on finishes instead of his fingers / fingertips?). Does not rise well in traffic – needs a head of steam. Missed a lot of finishes on drives this year because he would foolishly drive into multiple defenders and force up shots – he has really bad tunnel vision on drives. Teams could converge on him because they knew the odds were he wasn’t going to drop it off or kick it out. Even though the touch on the finishes were rough, he showed good body control/balance – did a nice job jumping through the defense to get to the rim on drives. More space could help his finishing, as he would not be going up against a loaded paint, but given his touch, I don’t think it will ever be great. Not much touch on his runner, either.

Handle: Not a fan of his handle – loses the ball (loose handle / live ball turnovers) and has a high handle. Looks like he pounds the ball more than actually trying to control it – almost like he’s pushing it into the floor so it can come back up, rather than keeping the ball on a string. Very little wiggle to his game – as mentioned above, he’s a power G and is not slippery. Does not really piece together dribble moves, does not have an advanced handle, and the translation from handle into dribble jumper is rough. Slow dribble moves and doesn’t really sell his crossover well. Uses his off hand / arm to shield the ball from defenders a lot, which makes me think he doesn’t trust his handle very much. Also doesn’t always handle pressure well – picks up dribble when he’s blitzed in PnR or the pressure gets to him on the perimeter (or pushes off on drives).

Passing: His actual passing ability is good, but his willingness to actually pass the ball is not. Forces passes / turnover prone – needs to work on decision-making. Needs to work on quickening his passing ability / translating his passes from a live dribble to a pass. No whip passes and needs to bring the ball back to his left hand before passing going right – even passing with his left requires some setting up from him. Because of his tunnel vision on drives, his passing ability is more PnR / perimeter oriented – he does not process defenses quickly, which is why he ends up barreling into multiple defenders in the paint instead of hitting a corner pass or a drop-off (he really does not see the corners well). Does not swing pass quickly, but this should be able to be worked on / taught (although, given his slow reaction / pass processing, I’m not sure how much it will improve – passing isn’t second nature to him). More space could potentially help his passing in that he could in theory have more passing outlets, but given his propensity to force shots at the rim instead of actually reading the floor, I question how much the extra space will actually help his passing ability while driving downhill. Can see the floor well because of his height – has the ability to pass over the defense and can see the open perimeter players when he’s stationary, but his perimeter playmaking sort of dies out when he’s driving. Solid PnR playmaker – does a nice job actually not forcing shots (~60% of his PnR passes end in passes). Does a nice job hitting the role man with pocket passes.

Synergy Profile: Defense: 65th percentile (totals if percentile not available).

PnR Scoring Spot Up Around Basket Dribble J C&S ISO Off Screen/DHO Runners Post Up 73 47 64 38 46 81 53/56 68 53

General Notes: Strong, but not very quick. Does not turn hips quickly, either. Stiff in his stance and plays defense too upright. Dies on screens, loses focus off ball, and does not rotate well (unless it’s something simple or he’s just switching off ball because he does not want to chase someone to the perimeter). Effort really is not there. I don’t think he’s quick enough to defend 2s, and he’s definitely not someone I’d put on a pure outside shooter based on his lazy closeouts + him being unable to (and appears unwilling to) run off screens / chase guys through screens. Can close on shots when he knows their coming with his length, but his reaction time isn’t great. He can use his wingspan to get into passing lanes / close off lanes, but gambles a bit, leaving his man open for a drive or open jumper. Hands are often down also, which is why he doesn’t have too many steals/deflections. Lazy on defense. Does not / cannot explode to the ball when he wants to due to lack of burst. When he actually wants to try, he can be a solid – decent defender, but even then he’s not a game changer. Good defensive rebounder.

Rim Protection: Going to be rotation based. Doesn’t explode well vertically to protect strong side or weak side. If he rotates early and gets set, he can use his strength to bump players back and use his wingspan to contest…but I don’t think this will be a strength of his as a wing (or really above average for position, either).

Shot Contests: His contests are good in that he uses his length well. The issue here comes from his reaction time not being great and his inability to really explode to the ball on the shot. Does not close out well either with his hand usually being down.

Footwork: Needs work. He’s already not quick, so he really needs his stance + footwork to be in tune. When sliding, he tends to take longer steps vs short ones – this hurts his change of direction and hip turns, because it gives him less to push off of (and he’s not light on his feet, so he really needs the explosion off the outside foot to help push him where he needs to go). Rests on his heels too much and can be beaten off the bounce – foot speed should improve if he stops relaxing / sitting on his heels. Not a fan of his closeouts. They’re pretty lazy both in terms of him getting out to actually contest the shot (hand down) and also the footwork is poor and clunky – weight is in heels. Really only gets out to shooters when the shooting motion has already begun.

Post Up: This is where I feel best about his defense, though there still needs to be some projection here because he needs to get more physical. RJ is strong, with a frame to add more weight, but it’s not totally functional yet. He’s got a pretty strong base and could probably switch a bit going forward on bigger players (IF he continues to add a bit more strength). Needs to learn how to better use his base and his hands (forearm + hand) on post defense, but the potential is there based on his strength and wingspan alone. If he gives up position early, he pretty much gives up on the play – needs to work on his effort a lot. Long term, if the effort comes and he continues to get stronger, there is reason to believe he could be a solid post defender.

Awareness: He can be in the right place positionally, but he won’t make an effort to really affect plays. Loses man off ball / ball watches too much. Not great rotating, either. I do not think he processes things quickly, which is why the awareness is not there – there will be times where there is an obvious rotation to make that he just misses.