Next season is a real make it or break it for some folk on this team, but especially for RJ. If he has another subpar, inconsistent, and inefficient year then idk what his future is with the Knicks.
It doesn’t matter how young he is…we must see improvement in Year 5.
Struggle2Real
Yikes.
When I try to be optimistic on rj, I try to imagine how high he can climb with the limitations on his jumper, and his defense. It gets really difficult to conceive a player who is high end effective with those elements holding him back.
I guess he could leverage his downhill game into plus playmaking? And the shooting *could* stabilize around league average? (That might be asking alot). And we could get to consistent league average defense?
It’s just asking alot.
The playoff performance seems to solidify that in my mind. The shooting wasn’t great, the defense wasn’t either, and the impact #s were not good. And everyone feels like he outperformed expectation, which he did.
I believe he’ll make the most out of the talent he has because of who he is. I don’t know if he’ll have the runway here to maximize his ability, nor am I really sure how impactful that fully formed rj is.
knicksin7even
Bunch of great players on this list , ion see the problem
theamanx8
Next season is massive. Team Canada experience this summer plus a lot of work and let’s see what happens. The playoff intensity was promising but we need efficiency and consistency.
TPTPJonSnow
Pull-ups are not a key part of RJs game, so I’m taking this stat with a huge grain of salt. RJ is a physical driver, and his jumpers are usually taken from a spot up position. That being said, he needs to improve in every aspect of his jump shooting to expand his game to the next level.
Mr_Jersey
Player is bad at the thing he’s the worst at, more at 11.
cesarjulius
i’m ok with rj either driving or being a catch and shoot option. not everyone needs to be good at everything.
MaxStunning_Eternal
Not his bag. RJ is a slasher. Bully ball to the cup. He does have stretches sometimes where his spot up jumper is working. Just so streaky.
Sparrow_Wilson
Trading him is the obvious next step but there’s not really anyone available atm
Mobius24
He is a role player at this point, but if he got fewer touches he could be a higher end one like Wiggins. He takes way more shots than his skillset suggests he should. We need a legitimate 3rd option to take his reps or a first option which would slide JR to 3 and JB to 2
Diligent-Cookie-1695
“Next year is make it break it” “I have faith in him” “He needs to take a leap next year”.
That’s the Knicks equivalent of the Ben Simmons ROTY joke.
Dimawhoooo
I’m not trying to make excuses for RJ, but usually stats like these have a minimum of shots taken posted which is omitted here. If RJ took 15 pull up shots over the season and is shooting 28% on them, that’s really a non-issue since that’s not a shot which is being taken at a high volume. Now the fact that he is shooting 28% is horrible but without context numbers really don’t mean that much. I am sure that Giannis’ number of pull up jumpers is in the teens as well.
Cautious-Ad-9554
Given the direction/identity the team seems to be embracing this isn’t good IMO. I agree with those that think Barrett can excel without this skill I just think it’s important given the commitment to Brunson/Randle and an emphasis on ball control over pace and ball movement.
15 Comments
[Source](https://twitter.com/nba_university/status/1682751372318371841?s=46)
He’s our best young prospect though /s
Next season is a real make it or break it for some folk on this team, but especially for RJ. If he has another subpar, inconsistent, and inefficient year then idk what his future is with the Knicks.
It doesn’t matter how young he is…we must see improvement in Year 5.
Yikes.
When I try to be optimistic on rj, I try to imagine how high he can climb with the limitations on his jumper, and his defense. It gets really difficult to conceive a player who is high end effective with those elements holding him back.
I guess he could leverage his downhill game into plus playmaking? And the shooting *could* stabilize around league average? (That might be asking alot). And we could get to consistent league average defense?
It’s just asking alot.
The playoff performance seems to solidify that in my mind. The shooting wasn’t great, the defense wasn’t either, and the impact #s were not good. And everyone feels like he outperformed expectation, which he did.
I believe he’ll make the most out of the talent he has because of who he is. I don’t know if he’ll have the runway here to maximize his ability, nor am I really sure how impactful that fully formed rj is.
Bunch of great players on this list , ion see the problem
Next season is massive. Team Canada experience this summer plus a lot of work and let’s see what happens. The playoff intensity was promising but we need efficiency and consistency.
Pull-ups are not a key part of RJs game, so I’m taking this stat with a huge grain of salt. RJ is a physical driver, and his jumpers are usually taken from a spot up position. That being said, he needs to improve in every aspect of his jump shooting to expand his game to the next level.
Player is bad at the thing he’s the worst at, more at 11.
i’m ok with rj either driving or being a catch and shoot option. not everyone needs to be good at everything.
Not his bag. RJ is a slasher. Bully ball to the cup. He does have stretches sometimes where his spot up jumper is working. Just so streaky.
Trading him is the obvious next step but there’s not really anyone available atm
He is a role player at this point, but if he got fewer touches he could be a higher end one like Wiggins. He takes way more shots than his skillset suggests he should. We need a legitimate 3rd option to take his reps or a first option which would slide JR to 3 and JB to 2
“Next year is make it break it” “I have faith in him” “He needs to take a leap next year”.
That’s the Knicks equivalent of the Ben Simmons ROTY joke.
I’m not trying to make excuses for RJ, but usually stats like these have a minimum of shots taken posted which is omitted here. If RJ took 15 pull up shots over the season and is shooting 28% on them, that’s really a non-issue since that’s not a shot which is being taken at a high volume. Now the fact that he is shooting 28% is horrible but without context numbers really don’t mean that much. I am sure that Giannis’ number of pull up jumpers is in the teens as well.
Given the direction/identity the team seems to be embracing this isn’t good IMO. I agree with those that think Barrett can excel without this skill I just think it’s important given the commitment to Brunson/Randle and an emphasis on ball control over pace and ball movement.