These 5 players have no business being ahead of RJ Barrett in recent NBA rankings

No. 85: Coby White

Coby White deserves credit for managing to find his way to a breakout season in the midst of the malaise that hangs over the Chicago Bulls franchise. The Bulls maintain a roster packed with guards and ball-dominant wings and yet White found his way to the starting lineup and was the Most Improved Player runner-up last year. He scored 19.1 points per game and averaged 5.1 assists.

Yet he needed 36.5 minutes per game to do so, one of the highest numbers in the league, and he put up 15.3 shots per game to get there. RJ Barrett in his 32 games in Toronto outpaced White in literally every metric while playing just 33.5 minutes per game -- points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, shooting efficiency. White had an overall negative Box Plus-Minus, while Barrett -- playing on a team that had a record losing streak during his half-season there -- had a positive BPM.

The argument for taking White over Barrett is literally not there. Barrett is even younger than White! This is the most inexplicable decision on the board.

No. 71: Devin Vassell

Devin Vassell is a young player with an incredible amount of upside to be the ideal 3-and-D wing with some secondary shot creation that you want to plug into a lineup. Players like Mikal Bridges, Danny Green or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have played key roles on great teams in recent years, each a different version of that archetype for someone like Vassell to grow into.

Yet Vassell has not yet grown into that player. He had a good season last year, averaging 19 points per game and improving as a playmaker. His defense is good, but certainly not elite, and he shot only 37.2 percent from deep. He's growing into the role of 3-and-D wing while still exploring the studio space as an on-ball scorer.

Barrett may not have the upside to grow into the same type of player as Vassell, but he is every bit as good as Vassell right now, and is much better as an on-ball creator and facillitator. Barrett's defense has waxed and waned over the years, but Vassell is wildly overrated in that area. Barrett is also a much better rebounder and foul-drawer. Add in that Barrett and Vassell are essentially the same age, and the case for Devin over RJ is based purely on a wish-dream. For him to be 22 spots higher is laughable.