The New York Knicks are currently facing the Cleveland Cavaliers, with the series being tied 1-1. There is no doubt that this has been a solid start to the series for the Knicks, as they will have the opportunity to have a 3-1 series lead if they win both home games.
One of the negative parts of the playoffs thus far for the Knicks has been forward RJ Barrett’s performance. He has struggled mightily, only averaging 10.5 PPG while shooting 24.0% from the field and 12.5% from the 3PT range. Recently, an NBA scout delivered a grim assessment of Barrett’s ceiling, claiming that he doesn’t have that “next level in terms of talent.”
“RJ is a good player and has made improvements over the years,” the Western Conference Scout told Alder Almo of Heavy Sports. “But I think there’s a ceiling on his development. He’ll be [someone] who can be in the league for a long time as a good player and starter. I just don’t think he has that next level in terms of talent.”
This is definitely a fair assessment of RJ Barrett’s ability and ceiling. Though he is definitely a solid player right now, it is hard to see him becoming a superstar in the future. However, we have seen outlier development before, and it is unfair to completely write RJ Barrett off right now. He is a player that wants to be special, and hard work can go a long way.
This regular season, RJ Barrett averaged 19.6 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 2.8 APG for the New York Knicks. Hopefully, his playoff performances will improve, and the goal is for him to show the same level of play that he did in the regular season.
Stephen A. Smith Went Off On RJ Barrett After A Poor Performance Against Cavaliers
There is no doubt that RJ Barrett’s recent performances against the Cavaliers haven’t been pretty. In fact, Stephen A. Smith even suggested that the forward shouldn’t see the floor against the Cavaliers.
“RJ Barrett, he might need to sit down for this series. Every series ain’t for everybody. The great ones, the really, really good ones, they can play in any series, but there are others– you just don’t have that kind of game. And you’ve evaluated RJ perfectly, but in this series, he don’t need to be seeing the floor. He ain’t made for this series. He just don’t have that kind of game. Not yet.”
It will be interesting to see what Tom Thibodeau does regarding RJ Barrett’s minutes. There’s definitely an argument for him to get less playing time, but there’s also a chance that he’ll bounce back as well. Hopefully, the team manages to figure things out, and we’ll see what happens in the future.
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