2019 NBA Mock Draft: March Madness is NBA Draft crazy season
Duke. R.J. Barrett. 5. player. 125. . G/F
If we’re looking over the grander narrative of Barrett’s season at Duke, the game-winning putback over Central Florida certainly makes up for his awful fourth quarter against Gonzaga in December. Barrett has rightly earned a reputation this year as a gunner who fails to read the game and make plays for teammates consistently. Duke was far less competitive in March when Zion Williamson was out with a knee sprain, another tick mark in the con column for Barrett. The season hasn’t gone Barrett’s way.
However, that the biggest play of his season would be a rebound is fitting. His best secondary skill is grabbing loose boards — he’s strong and active on the glass — and going coast to coast to make plays in space. Far more worrisome is his halfcourt decision-making, which won’t be wiped up from the UCF game.
One more thing to note from Duke’s near-second round loss is Barrett’s shooting. As Spencer Pearlman (an NBA Draft Twitter must-follow) noted online, Barrett is starting to eliminate the hitch on his jumper. It looked much smoother on Sunday afternoon and if he’s ever going to improve from the 31.3 percent guy he was as a freshman, that will be a big key.
Barrett only shot 66.2 percent from the line this, which is not a great indicator of his future shooting ability, either. It’s tough to imagine Barrett ever becoming an elite 3-point shooter in the NBA, but Sunday was a big step.