The analytics gurus never took to Knicks swingman RJ Barrett his rookie year. The advanced numbers don’t measure determination or durability; they can’t assess a player’s capacity to develop in the future.
Barrett was left off of the ballot predictions for the two 2019-20 All-Rookie teams published in The Athletic by John Hollinger, a former Memphis Grizzlies executive and one of the more prominent advanced-stats experts in the NBA media. The proclamation came out early in the awards voting season and likely had a significant impact on Barrett missing out in a close vote. The voters aren’t exactly poring over the relative merits of Terence Davis and Eric Paschall.
Joining Zion Williamson and Ja Morant on the all-rookie first team were Paschall, Brandon Clarke, and Kendrick Nunn. The second team wound up as follows: Davis, Tyler Herro, Coby White, P.J. Washington Jr. and Rui Hachimura.
It was a debatable result then that looks almost ludicrous in hindsight. And now at age 21, Barrett looks like a future All-Star — averaging 19.1 points on 49.1 percent shooting (41.7 percent from 3), 5.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists through eight games.
