CHARLESTON, S.C. — RJ Barrett, quickly and somewhat incredulously, pushed back when told he’s entered his prime.
“I’m 23,” he said at training camp Wednesday.
It was a good counter from the Knicks’ forward. He remains, after all, the youngest player in Tom Thibodeau’s rotation. But there are two ways to look at Barrett’s career: 1) he’s got time for vast improvement, and, 2) he’s already entering his fifth NBA season without a clear sense of his trajectory.
The questions of Barrett’s potential have lingered through his ups and downs, swinging from future face of the franchise to career role player.
For veteran basketball scout Fran Fraschilla, there’s a simple reason Barrett’s ceiling can’t be too high: shooting.
“Going back to his high school days, he’s pretty much reaching the potential that he has,” Fraschilla told The Post. “He’s playing the way I thought he would always play. The athleticism, competitiveness, confidence level and ability to get to the lane is everything he’s done since the time he was 15 years old. The one thing that separates him from being an above-average NBA player to being an All-Star is inability to consistently make 3-point shots.
“Because that holds him back. It makes him a little easier to guard.”
It’s a familiar take on Barrett, who shot just 31 percent on 3s last season — a career low — while representing the only player in the Knicks rotation with a negative net rating.
Interestingly, Thibodeau brought up net rating Wednesday as the most important metric in his evaluations.
Barrett was better in the playoffs and at the FIBA World Cup with Team Canada, but inefficient shooting — whether from long distance or the free-throw line — has followed Barrett for a long time.
Fraschilla, the former St. John’s coach, said he’s been monitoring Barrett’s career since high school.
“Some guys can go from 31 percent to 35 percent to 37 percent. And other guys are gonna stay in that low 30s range, average 19 a game and never get over the hump to go, ‘This guy’s an All-Star.’ And that’s what I kind of see in RJ. I say that as somebody who has watched him forever,” Fraschilla said. “I think we would all love to coach a player with that intensity and competitiveness.
“But there’s only 25 superstars in the league, and he’s a great role player. A great role player who, by the way, is going to make a couple 100 million by the time he’s done.”
Still, there are encouraging signs for optimistic Knick fans.
The pandemic season, while often disregarded as an anomaly, saw Barrett shoot 40.1 percent on 3-pointers.
We already mentioned last season’s playoffs, when Barrett emerged as easily the team’s second-best option after Jalen Brunson.
Then Barrett helped Canada finish third in the World Cup, averaging 16.8 points while shooting 37.1 percent from long range (although the 3-point line is more than a foot closer in FIBA competitions).
“I think I learned the game a little bit more,” Barrett said of his World Cup performance. “It’s crazy physical. Refs don’t care. It’s a lot different over there. But it was fun. I really kind of just did the same thing, my same thing, played the same game. I feel like I’m a guy — whether it’s the league or it’s FIBA — I kind of do the same stuff.”
Barrett’s “stuff” has mostly consisted of attacking the rim — whether in transition or off a screen — exploiting his power advantages and never wavering in confidence.
As an athlete, Barrett is strong but neither a big leaper nor quick with the ball.
“If you watch RJ in high school and college at Duke, you say, ‘Great athlete,’ ” Fraschilla said. “When you get to the level of the league right now, all of a sudden he goes from great athlete to good athlete. Good athlete with strengths where he can bully guys. But he’s not a jump-out-of-the-gym guy and he doesn’t possess great quickness. And all of a sudden he’s getting to the basket on strength and will.”
Those attributes make Barrett’s 3-point shooting more important to reach his goal of stardom.
At just 23, he has plenty of time. Sometimes, that’s enough.
Sometimes, it’s not.
“I won’t say encouraged because I know I believe in myself,” Barrett said of his playoffs. “I know I have that in me. So now it’s about trying to do it every day.”
