NBA Draft Thread: NO trades 4 to ATL (8/17/35)

[beekay414]

6 hours ago, NYRaider said:

We'll see. He has actually shot the ball pretty well this season from beyond the arc and has definitely improved as a shooter compared to years past. He has a professional pedigree and has won at the elite levels of high school and youth international competition. You don't really see too many 6'7" guards with his ability to create their own offense and attack the rim off the dribble. 

They all win in high school and some even win in college. Individual talent elevates them at those levels. Once they get into the NBA, its a completely different story. We've seen Barrett's story before. If he's uninterested in getting teammates involved and wants to "get his" he's not going to be a winning basketball player at the highest level. 

[beekay414]

Also...

"Bo knows"

😉

[TitanSlim]

I haven't really followed the RJ Barrett discussion so apologies if this has already been said.

RJ being on this Duke team could be a blessing or curse for him, depending on how he approaches things. He's always been the guy on his teams, so now he's on a squad with 2 (maybe 3) other lottery picks. He's at a bit of a crossroad early in his young career. Right now, everyone has seem to soured on him as a prospect. So, he really has two options. 1)Continue his "black hole" playstyle and watch his draft stock continue drop or 2)Swallow some of his pride and take a slight step back. Know that he has other extremely talented teammates and defer to them. Show why your playmaking was viewed as a positive for you coming into the season.

The kid seems to want to be great and has a good mindset. I think he'll figure it out. He's having to adjust (under a huge public microscope) to playing with teammates that are just as, if not more talented than him. A player with Barrett's mindset isn't going just change overnight. It's going to take time. I think once we get to the thick of ACC play we'll see if he has made said adjustments.

Somewhat random sidenote: I say this as a Duke fan, I like RJ Barrett far far more than Austin Rivers (another guy who was looked at as a ball stopping black hole). Rivers is probably my least favorite Dukie of all time(thanks for the shot at UNC though); Grayson Allen is a close 2nd(thanks for the 2015 NC performance though). We'll see if that's the case by seasons' end.

[NYRaider]

4 hours ago, beekay414 said:

They all win in high school and some even win in college. Individual talent elevates them at those levels. Once they get into the NBA, its a completely different story. We've seen Barrett's story before. If he's uninterested in getting teammates involved and wants to "get his" he's not going to be a winning basketball player at the highest level. 

RJ Barrett was the most decorated HS player since LeBron James. He swept the individual awards, led his team to a 35-0 season and a national championship, and led Canada to their first gold medal in international basketball competition. He's also averaging close to 4 assists per game this year so this notion that he doesn't pass is very overblown. People also forget that Barrett came to college a year early, he has time to develop. 

Edited November 29, 2018 by NYRaider

[NYRaider]

1 hour ago, TitanSlim said:

I haven't really followed the RJ Barrett discussion so apologies if this has already been said.

RJ being on this Duke team could be a blessing or curse for him, depending on how he approaches things. He's always been the guy on his teams, so now he's on a squad with 2 (maybe 3) other lottery picks. He's at a bit of a crossroad early in his young career. Right now, everyone has seem to soured on him as a prospect. So, he really has two options. 1)Continue his "black hole" playstyle and watch his draft stock continue drop or 2)Swallow some of his pride and take a slight step back. Know that he has other extremely talented teammates and defer to them. Show why your playmaking was viewed as a positive for you coming into the season.

The kid seems to want to be great and has a good mindset. I think he'll figure it out. He's having to adjust (under a huge public microscope) to playing with teammates that are just as, if not more talented than him. A player with Barrett's mindset isn't going just change overnight. It's going to take time. I think once we get to the thick of ACC play we'll see if he has made said adjustments.

Somewhat random sidenote: I say this as a Duke fan, I like RJ Barrett far far more than Austin Rivers (another guy who was looked at as a ball stopping black hole). Rivers is probably my least favorite Dukie of all time(thanks for the shot at UNC though); Grayson Allen is a close 2nd(thanks for the 2015 NC performance though). We'll see if that's the case by seasons' end.

4

He had one bad game and now he's a "black hole" dear lord. RJ Barrett is an elite player, Austin Rivers was okay but he was definitely very overrated. 

[beekay414]

Settle down, Bo.

[TitanSlim]

28 minutes ago, NYRaider said:

He had one bad game and now he's a "black hole" dear lord. RJ Barrett is an elite player, Austin Rivers was okay but he was definitely very overrated. 

Well, that's the perception he's beginning to gain from fans and draft analyst, fair or not.

[NYRaider]

1 hour ago, TitanSlim said:

Well, that's the perception he's beginning to gain from fans and draft analyst, fair or not.

They've played 7 games and it's November. Relax.

[Sllim Pickens]

After that first game against Kentucky I was down on RJ.  He scored what, 27 points on 24 shots.  He is not efficient, he takes good shots from players and doesn't seem to fit.  I don't think it is based on one game, its on the whole sample size I have seen.  I think he has potential to be a good player in the league and will put up numbers but I don't see him being a top 2 option on a winning team in the NBA.  I think he ends up as a Jamal Crawford type who puts up numbers on bad teams.

[beekay414]

RJ is a "get his" player. There's no way around that and anyone that denies it is...well...yeah. 

[TitanSlim]

1 hour ago, NYRaider said:

They've played 7 games and it's November. Relax.

Man, I'm totally relaxed lol. I don't how much more I need to break it down for you.

Again I'm a RJ fan, still think he's a top 3 guy and will get it all figured out. However he's shot 143 times (compared to 90 for Zion and 81 for Reddish), has an absurd usage % of 36.1% and has been ineffective with a true shooting percent of .491. That's why people are souring on him and he's getting labels like "black hole", "ball stopper" and "ballhog" put on him.

...But let me just relax since it's only November and they've just played 7 games.

[NYRaider]

2 hours ago, beekay414 said:

RJ is a "get his" player. There's no way around that and anyone that denies it is...well...yeah. 

And he's still a top 3 prospect in this year's draft with the potential to be one of the better wings in the league.

[RandyMossIsBoss]

3 hours ago, Sllim Pickens said:

After that first game against Kentucky I was down on RJ.  He scored what, 27 points on 24 shots.  He is not efficient, he takes good shots from players and doesn't seem to fit.  I don't think it is based on one game, its on the whole sample size I have seen.  I think he has potential to be a good player in the league and will put up numbers but I don't see him being a top 2 option on a winning team in the NBA.  I think he ends up as a Jamal Crawford type who puts up numbers on bad teams.

How the hell could anyone come away from that UK game with anything bad to say about RJ? Says all I need to know. He was the catalyst behind the initial large Duke lead, and made so many highlight, back breaking, plays during that 1st half when it was at least somewhat competitive. 

 

BTW, it was 33 pts on 13 for 26 shooting. That's efficient... Also had 6 assists to just 2 TOs.

[beekay414]

1 hour ago, NYRaider said:

And he's still a top 3 prospect in this year's draft with the potential to be one of the better wings in the league.

That's fine but everyone said the same thing about Wiggins, Jabari and several other "get mine" types. I'll wager heavy money that he's an empty stats type player. 

And I couldn't give two ****s less about his high school pedigree. Guys that don't grow beyond what they were in high school are dead stick types. Wiggins, Parker, MCW, Shabazz, Zimmerman...I could keep going but you get the point. 

Empty stats are what get GMs fired.

[NYRaider]

18 hours ago, beekay414 said:

That's fine but everyone said the same thing about Wiggins, Jabari and several other "get mine" types. I'll wager heavy money that he's an empty stats type player. 

And I couldn't give two ****s less about his high school pedigree. Guys that don't grow beyond what they were in high school are dead stick types. Wiggins, Parker, MCW, Shabazz, Zimmerman...I could keep going but you get the point. 

Empty stats are what get GMs fired.

We'll see what happens. I'd wager Duke is still the favorite to win it all this year and RJ Barrett will be their most important player on that journey. In college Wiggins averaged 1.5 apg and Parker averaged 1.2 apg. Barrett is averaging around 4 assists per game right now, pretty good for a guy that's a "get mine" empty stats type of player. Also impressive that Duke is 6-1 with their only loss coming against another top 3 team by 2 points in a game RJ struggled in.