Duke Basketball: 4 reasons why RJ Barrett will win 2019 National Player of the Year

1) Unique scoring ability

First and foremost, the best player in the country scores at a high clip. In fact, the last 17 winners of the award led their team in scoring (Shane Battier was the last player who didn’t in 2001, but he still averaged nearly 20 per game).

Scoring is not going to be and never has been, a problem for Barrett. He averaged 28.7 points per game as a senior at Montverde Academy, scored 38 points in Canada’s semifinal victory over the U.S. in the 2017 FIBA U19 World Cup, and led Duke in scoring in two of the three games in their preseason tour.

What exactly makes Barrett so tough to stop?

It starts with his size and athleticism. Barrett has prototypical size for a wing at 6-foot-7 and 202 pounds with good strength and quickness. He uses both of those attributes to get in the lane whenever he wants and, when he gets there, the lefty has a wide array of finishes he uses to score and/or get to the line.

Barrett has also worked to improve his jump shot and it’s now a very reliable part of his game. He made six three-pointers during Duke’s three-game preseason tour and shot 48.6 percent from the field. More importantly, he solidified himself as the Blue Devils’ No. 1 option.

Cameron Reddish and Zion Williamson are both so good that they’ll undoubtedly have games where Barrett is forced to take a backseat to them offensively, and that’s fine (more on this in a second). But, their abilities also mean that opposing defenses won’t be able to focus squarely on Barrett, which is a great thing for his offensive production.