RJ Barrett put forth several noteworthy performances for Team Canada in the FIBA World Cup. So what should we take away from his tournament play?
Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and RJ Barrett all played in the FIBA World Cup for their respective teams. RJ played for Canada, while Brunson and Hart played for Team USA. So if you happened to check the timeline this summer, Knicks Twitter (I’m not calling it X) shifted its unwavering support and completely dysfunctional relationship with the Knicks to the FIBA World Cup.
Barrett’s performances were particularly interesting because they elicited similar reactions garnered from his regular season performances. If RJ managed to hit a couple of threes, the Barrett hive was in full force—waving pom-poms and predicting future All-Star appearances. On the other hand, if RJ had an inefficient floor game, his detractors were quick to pounce on the 23-year-old, labeling him a bust.
That being said, there are some clear positives and negatives we can take from Barrett’s FIBA performances. The bigger question, of course, is how those performances will impact his upcoming fifth season in the NBA.
Efficiency for RJ Barrett
The most interesting takeaway from Barrett’s FIBA performances is how he managed to be a more efficient scorer with fewer shooting attempts. This past summer, RJ shot .454 percent from the floor while taking 13.5 shots per game (per Basketball Reference). Contrasting that with his past season for the Knicks, Barrett shot .434 percent while taking 16.1 shots per game. Additionally, Broadway Barrett canned .373 percent of his threes for Team Canada, while only converting .310 percent of his threes for the Knicks this past season.
The prevailing thought on Barrett has always been that he’s a high-usage player who needs a lot of shots to make an impact in the game. However, that might not be accurate. Barrett does need time and space to initiate his floor game, usually looking to set up his own shot, but he can set the table for others as well. The key word in that last sentence is “space.” Canada’s selection of big men featured Dwight Powell and Kelly Olynyk—players who don’t clog the paint and can shoot.
Now I’m not suggesting we trade Mitchell Robinson. Mitch was an absolute defensive force during the postseason, but it’s also a fact that his lack of mobility and offensive skill likely limits RJ and other players who rarely light it up from three. It’s possible that RJ’s offensive efficiency might improve when he plays with Isaiah Hartenstein and the second unit.
Free-throw shooting
For his career, RJ has shot .709 percent from the free-throw line, and he shot a career-high .740 percent this past season for the Knicks. However, with Team Canada, Barrett’s woes from the free-throw stripe resurfaced, shooting .630 percent over the course of eight games. Of course, the sample size is small, but free-throw shooting has long been a strong predictor of good/poor three-point shooting.
It’s somewhat disappointing to see Barrett, a guard, continue to struggle with converting from the stripe. Looking over the last five seasons, the only All-NBA guards to shoot .740 percent or worse from the free-throw line over a season were Luka Doncic (2023 and 2022), Ben Simmons (2020), and Russell Westbrook (2019). With Doncic being an other-worldly shot-creator and shot-maker, and that 2019 version of Russ averaging a triple-double, it’s hard to imagine that Barrett will reach that level of play during his career.
As a result, any improvements on the margins are incredibly important for Barrett, especially free-throw shooting. Personally, I would love for RJ to get to the line between eight to 10 times a game. It’s not likely that he’ll ever be a consistent .400 percent shooter from the three-point line, but if he gets to the line more often, and converts, the Jimmy Butler comparisons might not be so exaggerated.
Three-point shooting
Three-point shooting has forever been RJ Barrett’s swing skill. A career .340 percent shooter from behind the arc, RJ has three seasons where has shot below .340 percent from the three-point line, and one season (COVID year), where he shot above .400 percent. Much has been made regarding RJ’s shooting mechanics and his work with long-time shooting instructor Drew Hanlen. Barrett’s up-and-down shooting performances have never been for lack of effort, but as the former Duke prodigy enters year five of his NBA career, fans are not going to be as lenient if Barrett puts forth another poor performance from the three-point line.
In the eight games during the FIBA World Cup, Barrett shot .373 percent from the three-line, including two performances where he was four-for-six from behind the arc (versus Latvia), and four-for-eight from the three-point line (versus USA in the Bronze medal game).
For me, RJ’s shooting has always come down to where he catches the ball and his foot placement. The closer RJ catches the ball between the upper part of his chest and the area below the chin, the quicker he is able to get into his shooting motion. RJ naturally dips the ball a bit when he catches it, and while this doesn’t always equate to a bad shot or poor shooting form (as seen above), it creates a longer shooting motion and gives the defender more time to close out.
Putting all of this together, I strongly believe that the best version of RJ is a player who drives the ball more than a player who settles for jump shots. Coach Tom Thibodeau will need to play Barrett more with the second unit and a center that doesn’t clog the paint, like Hartenstein, so that he can draw fouls and get to the line more frequently.
A strong season from RJ Barrett could be the difference between a series victory in the second round of the playoffs and lingering between the sixth and eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The stage is set for Broadway Barrett, it’s time to sink or swim.
Stay tuned to KnicksFanTV.com for the latest Knicks news, rumors, and recaps throughout the NBA season. And in case you missed it, check out CP and special guest Alan Hahn’s Knicks season preview.
