If you’re into video games or the NBA (or both), you’ve probably heard of, watched, or played 2K at some point. In anticipation of this year’s edition dropping on September 6, each player’s game notes have been released over the past two weeks.
Of course, it’s hard for a fan not to think that their favorite players are underrated. Every year when the ratings are released, there’s an outpouring of anger and questions on social media about whether certain players are overrated or underrated.
It’s not an exact science, but it’s based on numbers to some extent. Players who are long-time All-Stars or those who have had long, distinguished careers automatically get higher ratings. For example, LeBron’s current rating is 96, after going 26-7-8 last season, while Luka’s is only 93 despite going 34-9-10. Of course, if you’re trying to argue that Luka has been better overall throughout his career than LeBron, I have questions.
Once we get beyond the top 20 players in the league, things start to get a little fuzzy, and that’s where we can start to argue that some players’ ratings are completely wrong. So let’s see where the Toronto Raptors have landed, and whether or not they were underestimated once again:
Scottie Barnes
Scottie remains at 85, the same score as his final score in the previous edition. He’s ranked just 47th, which, if you look at those around him, probably won’t take you long to get frustrated with either. While it makes sense that there hasn’t been much fluctuation over the summer (especially given the Raptors’ lack of postseason play), the interest in his score is likely based more on comparison to those around him.
He shares a rating with Julius Randle, Brandon Ingram, and Rudy Gobert. From a numbers standpoint, that makes sense. But it doesn’t, as Cade Cunningham, Franz Wagner, and Evan Mobley are all rated 86, despite the fact that in many metrics, Scottie actually beats them.
This is where the drama of the 2021 Draft begins. The comparisons between these players started the day they were drafted and will likely follow them throughout their careers. The Mobley/Barnes argument seems to be particularly prevalent. Both teams are happy with their picks, but every head-to-head matchup results in social media posts comparing stats and performances, and Cavs fans continue to dwell on Scottie’s ROY and All-Star nominations. At this point, he has more honors, he’s our franchise player, and he’s statistically superior in many ways. The fact that he’s rated lower is a bit of an insult.
Consensus: Scottie should be (at least) an 86.
RJ Barrett
After finishing the last edition with an 83, RJ dropped to an 81 to start this edition. His company on this list? D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Coby White, and Immanuel Quickley (who we’ll get to later).
Despite D’Lo’s struggles over the past two years, he has had a statistically similar season and has some career longevity that could be used to bolster the rating.
Austin Reaves is statistically worse in every way and should not be rated the same. To top it all off, Alex Caruso is rated one point higher, despite averaging about half as much in points and averaging far fewer rebounds and assists. Defensively, he is one of the best at his position, but I am not convinced RJ should be rated lower than him. Tyler Herro is rated two points higher, despite having virtually identical averages, and the defensive argument cannot be used to justify the difference.
By all accounts, RJ has improved upon his arrival in Toronto and has even surpassed his performances from the previous season. His contributions to Team Canada have also been incredible, generating a lot of excitement for the upcoming season. Dropping his ranking after this improvement is counterintuitive.
Consensus: RJ should be an 83.
Emmanuel Quickley
Starting this edition with an 81, he’s down 2 points from his final score, but he’s up from an 80 at the start of the previous edition. Most of the same arguments can be made about his IQ, but he’s averaging lower points and rebounds, and RJ’s defense is more versatile. He’s a second-team All-Rookie selection, but has no other accolades, and despite his progress since arriving in Toronto, it feels like his increase since the start of the last edition is still a nod to him.
I’d be more interested in seeing how his rating evolves over the course of the season before getting carried away with how he starts.
Consensus: IQ is probably 81, but that probably won’t last long.
The rest of the list:
There were some drops in the roster, but those seem a little more justified. Bruce Brown dropped 3 points to 77, but he’s struggled since the trade, so that seems rational.
Chris Boucher only dropped one point to reach 76, which is somewhat surprising given that he has had an up-and-down season as well. Ochai Agbaji also dropped 2 points to reach 74. There’s not much to complain about there, they all seem to be decent spots for them, relative to each other as well.
Gradey Dick remains at the 76th spot he finished last season in, but he has gained 4 points since the last edition was released. Gradey continues to impress and develop, and showed some great performances during Summer League before getting injured, so I would expect to see him gain another point or two throughout the season, but this seems like a good starting point as well.
Final thoughts
The Raptors were ranked in the T3 category, alongside Sacramento, Utah, Atlanta, and Detroit. While that assessment is likely accurate for the team as a whole, it’s hard not to assume that 2K is doing pretty much the same thing most people do with the Raptors: underestimating its players and leaving them out of the conversation.
One interesting note though, especially in light of this being the Raptors’ 30th season, is the inclusion of Vince Carter in Toronto purple threads on the cover of the Hall of Fame edition of the game. Many of the marketing efforts for this milestone season have included Vince, and speculation about his jersey retirement continues to swirl, but regardless, it’s nice to see his time in Toronto celebrated in this way.
Now we just have to wait until the end of the first quarter of the season (or so), when the ratings will be updated for the first time. Hopefully this time around, Scottie will at least get the promotion he deserves.
