NBA Draft 2021: Evaluating how different team context’s affected NBA prospects

Florida State Seminoles

When the Seminoles roster was posted last summer, 6’9 freshman Scottie Barnes was not listed as a forward, but rather as a guard, forecasting the year to come. After spending his senior season as a linking four on a loaded Montverde Academy team, Barnes shifted to a full-time primary ball-handler.

Barnes’ unique passing ability and size actually yielded positive results. He was one of three underclassmen in the draft with an assist rate over 30%. While Florida State was middle of the pack in pace, Barnes excelled at getting rebounds and finding the Seminoles’ athletic wings on the break.

In the half-court, Florida State didn’t have a ton of spacing. But Barnes’ height allowed him to find passing angles. His scoring wasn’t great as his jumpshot needs to improve. When he did get to the rim, he showed the ability to finish, even with improper spacing. Barnes handle needs work as well, but he was tasked with just 13 half-court isolation possessions.

Barnes’ defense was also tricky to evaluate because while he has all the tools of a promising multi positional defender, Hamilton’s scheme wants players to play over aggressive and oftentimes loses sense of basic man-to-man concepts. It’s hard to say whether Barnes’ lapses were his own doing, or he was just following the scheme.

Barnes is maybe the one prospect in this class whose college role will completely differentiate from his NBA role. He projects best as a linking four. Someone who can use that passing off of closeouts and in the short role. That was more or less his role at Montverde so film of him in that role does exist.

The year at point guard was good for his development, as his on-ball skills showed growth by the end of the season. His college film is very useful, but placing him into his perfect NBA fit is a bit trickier now.