Aaron Gordon says Scottie Barnes when asked about "guy miscast in role as star who might excel as the ultimate glue guy"

[Phezmo123]

I’ll say something a bit more optimistic; you can’t really learn to be sudden…cleaning up your handle can help but imo that’s not really the source of the issue with Scottie, he’s not usually getting ahead of his dribble…but the second best thing he could add to propel him higher in the stratosphere just happens to be arguably the easiest skill to develop later, ie shooting. If he puts the work in and has no fundamental or confidence issues, that path forward is the most realistic. Not super ideal in terms of defensibility, but otoh team’s having to play up more will give him an extra half-step.

And he's already improved so much as a shooter. Keep in mind he was considered a liability from beyond the three coming into the draft.

[ItsDanger]

The SB/RJ/IQ/GD core isn't really a group that beats defenders 1 on 1 in all situations. To unlock their upside, the right C can help a lot.

[StopitLeo]

Could be true but until we have an MVP level player Scottie is going to play that star role. Just like Pascal and DeMar before him.

[brownbobcat]

The SB/RJ/IQ/GD core isn't really a group that beats defenders 1 on 1 in all situations. To unlock their upside, the right C can help a lot.

We'll see. Guys can improve, especially ones as young as those guys. I don't have any hope of some non-star C unlocking anything, though. True stars are the guys who unlock supporting players, not the other way around.

[BBS22]

Both are true.

Scottie would thrive as the 2nd option or be an elite "glue guy" right now. Imagine him next to SGA for example or even Wemby. And an absolute luxury as a 3rd option on a contender today.

In the future? Story remains to be seen. I'd be disappointed if he was a Tyson Chandler on the Mavs championship for example. But Draymond type? Not a bad comparable.

I haven't seen "it" from Scottie yet. At least on a consistent level. Anthony Edwards is having a moment and has "it". Legit first option that calls for the ball and takes over a game. Scottie's been more passive than I like.

And by the way, you could have said the same thing about Giannis early in his career. The difference between Aaron Gordon and Giannis is that Giannis improved greatly and surpassed his ceiling, Gordon has barely improved year to year. Scottie is closer to Giannis in that respect than Gordon.

[EastonEddy]

Gordon is bang on. First guy that popped into my mind as well before I actually saw Gordons response. Kinda surprised he labelled Scottie that but I guess it is kinda a compliment...

[Scase]

So far, based on trajectory, and what he's done thus far at year 3, he is well on his way to superstardom, just compare year 3 Scottie vs year 3 Giannis, Tatum, Joker, and you will see he's either ahead or not that far off.

Major caveat though, Giannis had generational athleticism at his height, Jokic had mind boggling efficiency by his third year with 0 holes in his game outside of defence.

Tatum is probably the closest comp but even Tatum was much more refined than Scottie was at his age. Was the best player on a team that knocked out one of the best Raptors teams of all time. Even despite that, some would say Tatum isn’t even a true superstar yet which is probably true.

I think Scottie is on his way to being an all nba caliber player but superstardom ? Gotta see way more than that. Someone like Anthony Edwards who’s the same age as Scottie is on his way to superstardom.

If I had to hedge my bests, I would agree with you whole heartedly. But seeing his 3pt shot take a massive uptick for a significant part of last year gives me hope that he can work on shooting to become a very good to great scoring option, just not elite. Will he ever be the best scorer on the team, I mean yeah probably, but he shouldn't be lol. Ideally we get a pure scorer and rely on him for like 22ish ppg, but more so for all the other stuff that holds the team together. Coordinating the offence, anchoring the defence etc.

[TOStateofMind]

Never really saw this as some type of “diss”. Scottie’s natural skills and instincts has always been more of that unselfish, well rounded player. He just happened to improve by leaps and bounds in scoring as well. He still has potential for more and the next few years especially will be interesting to watch.

[Clay Davis]

Major caveat though, Giannis had generational athleticism at his height, Jokic had mind boggling efficiency by his third year with 0 holes in his game outside of defence.

Scottie has superior shot making skills, IQ, and vision vs Giannis at the same age, and again, his numbers have been superior to Giannis thus far. Jokic had mind boggling efficiency, but Scottie has been a far superior defenders at the same age, we can cherry pick what strengths to highlight but let's not ignore Scottie's strength at the same time.

Tatum is probably the closest comp but even Tatum was much more refined than Scottie was at his age. Was the best player on a team that knocked out one of the best Raptors teams of all time. Even despite that, some would say Tatum isn’t even a true superstar yet which is probably true.

Tatum did not have the same level of court vision, defense and ability to finish near the rim as Scottie, he is a better scorer I'l give him that, but that doesn't make him the better player in the same age. Regarding team success, hyave you seen the roster that Scottie had to play with in year 3 vs Tatum?

I think Scottie is on his way to being an all nba caliber player but superstardom ? Gotta see way more than that. Someone like Anthony Edwards who’s the same age as Scottie is on his way to superstardom.

How can you say that with such certainty when he's so far produced similar results to that of an up and coming star?

I am not 100% certain that Scottie will become a #1 scoring option on a contending team, but that doesn't mean he's incapable of being a superstar player, Giannis and Joker are not the go-to scorers during crunch times in their respective teams.

Scottie having better vision and “a bag” over Giannis means nothing when Giannis has athleticism that no 7 footer ever had before.

As for your Jokic rebuttal, I don’t think that’s an intelligent point at all. Scottie being a superior defensive player than Jokic doesn’t close the gap at all on offence. It’s a rather meaningless point lol.

Who exactly was Tatum playing with when he beat the Raptors in the playoffs ? It was one of the worst rosters that’s beeb apart of this Tatum era. His starting center was Daniel Theis and 6th man was Brad Wanamaker lmao.

The rosters that Scottie has been on in the last 3 years have been much more talented than that Celtics roster that went to the ECF. Not really buying that excuse.

Scottie is very talented and is on his way to being an all time unique player but that doesn’t necessarily mean superstardom. To be one, he has to be a high end scorer, there’s no escaping that, it doesn’t matter how good he is at other things, he needs to be a dominant scorer to be one.

Even Jokic and Lebron realized they had to be the best scorers on their team despite being passing savants.

While I do agree that now, scoring is an integral part of being a superstar... it was not always the case. Neither Magic Johnson nor Bill Russell (universally regarded as superstars) were amazing scorers... yet they had the rizz; they won games and are all-time greats at their position. It makes me wonder how much being a "superstar" is just how marketable you are (since the most marketable stars, since Jordan, have been the bucket-getters) and how much it is about impacting the game.

[HiJiNX]

I still contend that he’s a future superstar and MVP candidate even though he’s not gonna average 25ppg. He impacts the game in every single way.

[Scase]

I still contend that he’s a future superstar and MVP scorer even though he’s not gonna average 25ppg. He impacts the game in every single way.

I see him as MVP "quality" with the way he impacts the game/his team, but I don't ever think he'll be a flat out scorer. I'm not sure what you mean by him being an MVP scorer, but not putting up 25ppg. I don't think those even exist now a days.

Top 5 in mvp voting this year were 26.4, 30, 34, 30.4, and 28.7. I don't see any way Scottie can be considered an MVP scorer, and manage below 25ppg. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean?

[Los_29]

Major caveat though, Giannis had generational athleticism at his height, Jokic had mind boggling efficiency by his third year with 0 holes in his game outside of defence.

Scottie has superior shot making skills, IQ, and vision vs Giannis at the same age, and again, his numbers have been superior to Giannis thus far. Jokic had mind boggling efficiency, but Scottie has been a far superior defenders at the same age, we can cherry pick what strengths to highlight but let's not ignore Scottie's strength at the same time.

Tatum is probably the closest comp but even Tatum was much more refined than Scottie was at his age. Was the best player on a team that knocked out one of the best Raptors teams of all time. Even despite that, some would say Tatum isn’t even a true superstar yet which is probably true.

Tatum did not have the same level of court vision, defense and ability to finish near the rim as Scottie, he is a better scorer I'l give him that, but that doesn't make him the better player in the same age. Regarding team success, hyave you seen the roster that Scottie had to play with in year 3 vs Tatum?

I think Scottie is on his way to being an all nba caliber player but superstardom ? Gotta see way more than that. Someone like Anthony Edwards who’s the same age as Scottie is on his way to superstardom.

How can you say that with such certainty when he's so far produced similar results to that of an up and coming star?

I am not 100% certain that Scottie will become a #1 scoring option on a contending team, but that doesn't mean he's incapable of being a superstar player, Giannis and Joker are not the go-to scorers during crunch times in their respective teams.

Scottie having better vision and “a bag” over Giannis means nothing when Giannis has athleticism that no 7 footer ever had before.

As for your Jokic rebuttal, I don’t think that’s an intelligent point at all. Scottie being a superior defensive player than Jokic doesn’t close the gap at all on offence. It’s a rather meaningless point lol.

Who exactly was Tatum playing with when he beat the Raptors in the playoffs ? It was one of the worst rosters that’s beeb apart of this Tatum era. His starting center was Daniel Theis and 6th man was Brad Wanamaker lmao.

The rosters that Scottie has been on in the last 3 years have been much more talented than that Celtics roster that went to the ECF. Not really buying that excuse.

Scottie is very talented and is on his way to being an all time unique player but that doesn’t necessarily mean superstardom. To be one, he has to be a high end scorer, there’s no escaping that, it doesn’t matter how good he is at other things, he needs to be a dominant scorer to be one.

Even Jokic and Lebron realized they had to be the best scorers on their team despite being passing savants.

Celtics team was quite good. They had Jaylen, Smart and Kemba who was coming off an ALL-NBA season. That year we lost to them we had Kyle, Ibaka and Gasol at the end of their careers. In fact, Ibaka and Gasol were essentially washed at that point. They are currently out of the league.

Tatum has always had a lot of talent around him. He’s been very fortunate because most 3rd overall picks go to bad teams. He went to an already established team.

[HumbleRen]

Scottie has superior shot making skills, IQ, and vision vs Giannis at the same age, and again, his numbers have been superior to Giannis thus far. Jokic had mind boggling efficiency, but Scottie has been a far superior defenders at the same age, we can cherry pick what strengths to highlight but let's not ignore Scottie's strength at the same time.


Tatum did not have the same level of court vision, defense and ability to finish near the rim as Scottie, he is a better scorer I'l give him that, but that doesn't make him the better player in the same age. Regarding team success, hyave you seen the roster that Scottie had to play with in year 3 vs Tatum?



How can you say that with such certainty when he's so far produced similar results to that of an up and coming star?

I am not 100% certain that Scottie will become a #1 scoring option on a contending team, but that doesn't mean he's incapable of being a superstar player, Giannis and Joker are not the go-to scorers during crunch times in their respective teams.

Scottie having better vision and “a bag” over Giannis means nothing when Giannis has athleticism that no 7 footer ever had before.

As for your Jokic rebuttal, I don’t think that’s an intelligent point at all. Scottie being a superior defensive player than Jokic doesn’t close the gap at all on offence. It’s a rather meaningless point lol.

Who exactly was Tatum playing with when he beat the Raptors in the playoffs ? It was one of the worst rosters that’s beeb apart of this Tatum era. His starting center was Daniel Theis and 6th man was Brad Wanamaker lmao.

The rosters that Scottie has been on in the last 3 years have been much more talented than that Celtics roster that went to the ECF. Not really buying that excuse.

Scottie is very talented and is on his way to being an all time unique player but that doesn’t necessarily mean superstardom. To be one, he has to be a high end scorer, there’s no escaping that, it doesn’t matter how good he is at other things, he needs to be a dominant scorer to be one.

Even Jokic and Lebron realized they had to be the best scorers on their team despite being passing savants.

Celtics team was quite good. They had Jaylen, Smart and Kemba who was coming off an ALL-NBA season. That year we lost to them we had Kyle, Ibaka and Gasol at the end of their careers. In fact, Ibaka and Gasol were essentially washed at that point. They are currently out of the league.

Tatum has always had a lot of talent around him. He’s been very fortunate because most 3rd overall picks go to bad teams. He went to an already established team.

That team was not that good. Jaylen Brown was not an all star or all nba player. Kemba sustained an injury at the all star game and was never the same after it, got washed out of the league very quickly after that season.

Raptors were the deeper team and better team. Lowry was better than anyone on the Celtics team outside of Tatum and people legitimately believed Siakam was better than Tatum or atleast equal at that time. The only reason why we lost that series was because our all nba player got outplayed by Marcus Smart.

[HumbleRen]

Scottie has superior shot making skills, IQ, and vision vs Giannis at the same age, and again, his numbers have been superior to Giannis thus far. Jokic had mind boggling efficiency, but Scottie has been a far superior defenders at the same age, we can cherry pick what strengths to highlight but let's not ignore Scottie's strength at the same time.


Tatum did not have the same level of court vision, defense and ability to finish near the rim as Scottie, he is a better scorer I'l give him that, but that doesn't make him the better player in the same age. Regarding team success, hyave you seen the roster that Scottie had to play with in year 3 vs Tatum?



How can you say that with such certainty when he's so far produced similar results to that of an up and coming star?

I am not 100% certain that Scottie will become a #1 scoring option on a contending team, but that doesn't mean he's incapable of being a superstar player, Giannis and Joker are not the go-to scorers during crunch times in their respective teams.

Scottie having better vision and “a bag” over Giannis means nothing when Giannis has athleticism that no 7 footer ever had before.

As for your Jokic rebuttal, I don’t think that’s an intelligent point at all. Scottie being a superior defensive player than Jokic doesn’t close the gap at all on offence. It’s a rather meaningless point lol.

Who exactly was Tatum playing with when he beat the Raptors in the playoffs ? It was one of the worst rosters that’s beeb apart of this Tatum era. His starting center was Daniel Theis and 6th man was Brad Wanamaker lmao.

The rosters that Scottie has been on in the last 3 years have been much more talented than that Celtics roster that went to the ECF. Not really buying that excuse.

Scottie is very talented and is on his way to being an all time unique player but that doesn’t necessarily mean superstardom. To be one, he has to be a high end scorer, there’s no escaping that, it doesn’t matter how good he is at other things, he needs to be a dominant scorer to be one.

Even Jokic and Lebron realized they had to be the best scorers on their team despite being passing savants.

While I do agree that now, scoring is an integral part of being a superstar... it was not always the case. Neither Magic Johnson nor Bill Russell (universally regarded as superstars) were amazing scorers... yet they had the rizz; they won games and are all-time greats at their position. It makes me wonder how much being a "superstar" is just how marketable you are (since the most marketable stars, since Jordan, have been the bucket-getters) and how much it is about impacting the game.

It’s a different NBA. Even Steve Nash winning those MVP’s would have never happened in today’s NBA.

[One_and_Done]

Even Gordon is smarter than Masai it seems.m

Please don't troll our board.

[PhilBlackson]

I get that it wasn't meant as disrespect but Scottie wouldn't be like Gordon, he's already way too skilled/talented for that. Gordon never was/is anywhere near Scottie's level as a player.

I have no fear at all of him being another "Aaron Gordon" but being another "Scottie Pippen" type of player (obv I don't mean defensively), that I can understand. Because Pipp still led the Bulls to a really good season without MJ but he just couldn't takeover as is necessary from the true superstars of the league.

There still is a legitimate concern whether he can be a true 1st option. Jokic has already shown you don't need to put up 30+ to be a #1 option BUT you do have to be the guy ready/willing to takeover whenever your team needs it and also direct your team. That's where he reminds me of Pippen offensively, where he will step up if called upon, he's (very) willing to sacrifice his own numbers for his teammates betterment but all too often he seems to have no problem fading into the background and even being passive. Scottie MUST become more assertive consistently whether that's getting his own bucket or just directing his team/traffic more.

Right now I think Scottie has all the talent in the world to become a MVP caliber player but I'm not sure he has the character/personality of one. If I'm being brutally honest I believe Scottie is looking like an elite 2nd option that can get the whole team going BUT we still need a WING player that can/will take over in big moments of the game as a scorer (preferably a SF to be specific). I think IQ & RJ have the aggressiveness to pick up a lot of the slack but in the Playoffs or big moments of a game neither are skilled enough to really find their own shots consistently. This team needs someone who can take over in the style of a Kawhi, Ant, KD etc. A cold blooded killer....Jokic can turn that on when he wants to but if he struggles he's got Murray too and we don't have that kinda of bucket getter on the squad yet.

[everdiso]

Aaron Gordon is a great off-ball player. Like OG.

Scottie is a great on-ball player.

comparison is dumb.

[hyper316]

Some people havent watched games and seen Scottie turn it on in 4Q. Scottie is a legit go to scorer when he turns it on

[mtcan]

Some people havent watched games and seen Scottie turn it on in 4Q. Scottie is a legit go to scorer when he turns it on

That's my problem with Scottie. Don't wait until we are down and need a comeback in the 4th to turn it up. I have to see sustained effort and him always looking to impose his will on the game.

When you can do as much as Scottie can in a game...I suppose it's hard to know what to do and when but I want him to go as hard to to the basket in the first, second and third quarters as he does at the end of games.

In year 4 I hope to see a more assertive Scottie and more sustained effort overall. If not...he's Pippen to someone's Jordan which is fine but not what a lot of us are hoping for, for him.

[tsherkin]

I'd love to see next year before agreeing with this. He was brutally cold from 3 in the new year, but overall looked like he was much improved from downtown. Set a career-high at the FT line. Just finished his 3rd season and missed/was shut down the last 22 games of the season.

His middle game is still stinky ass, but on his career-high shooting volume, he set his best mark for proportion of shots in the RA, and FG% in that zone. Still fairly weak from the corner, acceptable on his short game but well worse than his usual level. He's got space to improve. Doesn't have elite acceleration, but he's got power and length and he was looking a lot better through most of the year. He was still below league average in efficiency and that's not surprising given his various deficiencies, but he's 22, so there's some chance he'll keep putting it together in pieces. Just hopefully not with the same methodical, languorous pace we saw from DeRozan.

It very much feels like's not That Guy (TM) on offense. Seems like a pretty boss #2, though, barring a major breakout next season.