Scottie Barnes has No. 1 overall pick potential
Scottie Barnes was expected to be one of the nation’s top prospects in college basketball this past year, but he never really got a lot of chances to prove what he could do at Florida State. We saw glimpses into his full potential, but Barnes’ draft stock has seemed to drop a bit because of his lack of production in college.
Overall though, he has the potential to not only be a top player in this year’s draft class, but he has as much potential as some of these other guys like Cade Cunningham, Jalen Suggs and Evan Mobley, who are considered the top draft prospects in this year’s draft class.
Quite honestly, one of the biggest reasons why Barnes never exploded at Florida State is because their style of play did not really fit him well as a player. He is extremely agile and quick for a forward and with the Seminoles, they wanted him to be a more contained, back-to-the-basket type of guy.
In the NBA, Barnes is going to be the opposite of this kind of player given his gifted abilities to play one-on-one and be a very strong threat in transition. He may not be the best perimeter threat in this draft class, but he is definitely one of the better players in this year’s draft off-the-dribble attacking the rim.
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Jump shot mechanics can be worked on and taught, but having a high-motor and being an above-average athlete for his size is something that you cannot teach and is something Barnes possesses. With a freakish 7’2” wingspan, Scottie Barnes has the potential to be an impactful NBA player on both ends of the court and because of all of this potential, he could very well end up being the biggest steal in the 2021 NBA Draft.
He still has a lot of room to grow and a lot of work to still do to reach his full potential, but All-Star potential exists for Scottie Barnes and with the right team, he could easily be considered one of the greatest players to come out of this draft class in the future.
