Just how much of a leap has R.J. Barrett taken this year?
The third year forward from Duke has taken over as the Knicks' best player and is coming off of a 24 point performance in a blowout win against the Clippers on Sunday night
Advanced statistics used in this article are from ESPN.com, StatMuse.com, and NBA.com.
NBA fans know that R.J. Barrett has played great this year. One of the lone bright spots for the 26-38 Knicks, Barrett has given the organization and its fans hope for the future even in the midst of a horrific season.
Similar to the Lakers but to a much lesser extent, the Knicks were expected to be a playoff team and have fallen much short of those expectations. They are in 12th place in the Eastern Conference Standings and are 5.5 games out of the 10 seed for the play-in tournament.
Although it seems unlikely with just 19 games left, the Knicks will need R.J. Barrett to continue to step it up on the offensive end like he has the past three weeks of the season. Barrett has already had eight 30+ point games this season and a 46 point performance against the Heat on February 25th.
Barrett has averaged his career-high in points (19 vs. 17.6 per game last season) and has matched his career-high in rebounds per game with 5.8. However, how efficient has Barrett been this season? Is this truly his best season overall?
Before I go into Barrett’s advanced shooting metrics, his 35.1 3PT% is five percent down from his 40.1 3PT% of last season. Right there tells you that with Julius Randle’s playmaking efficiency decreasing this season, Barrett is getting fewer open shots than before, relying on himself to create space.
Barrett’s production also takes a hit with point guard Derrick Rose being out for the rest of the season, forcing Immanuel Quickley, Evan Fournier, and Alec Burks into playmaking usages they have never been accustomed to.
Barrett has definitely played better of late averaging 25.5 points over his past ten games. Although Barrett has been scoring more than ever recently, he hasn’t been efficient at all. Barrett owns a 44.9 eFG% and a 50.5 TS% over his past ten games and just a 47.9 eFG% and 51.5 TS% on the season as a whole.
Barrett’s PER of 13.75 and his usage% of 26.1 are both career highs, but not by much. Last season Barrett had a PER of 13.50, a usage% of 22.9, an eFG% of 49.9, and a TS% of 53.5, meaning Barrett was much more efficient of a shooter and had almost as high of a PER this season with a lower usage%.
Yes, Barrett has been amazing for the Knicks and is undisputedly the future of the organization. However, this “leap” he is having this year really isn’t a leap since he was just as good last season.
Sure, he didn’t have a 46 point game or as many 30 point games as he has put up this season, but he was more efficient and almost as dominant as the Knicks’ 2nd option last season. If the Knicks want to improve in the future and build around R.J. Barrett (which is a great plan) Barrett will also need to improve his efficiency from the floor.