There may be a lot to love concerning the four-year, $120 million extension (together with incentives) to which the Knicks and RJ Barrett are near agreeing on.
There may be Barrett himself, after all. A couple of months in the past, at the beginning of the Knicks-Jazz dance over Donovan Mitchell, I prompt in a column that even when it took sacrificing Barrett to make Mitchell a Knick, it needed to be carried out, particularly since it might possible scale back the draft-pick haul Danny Ainge would search.
And … effectively, put it this fashion: If I’d prompt the Yankees ought to merely waive Aaron Decide, I’m unsure the backlash would have been fairly so visceral. Commerce Barrett? Knicks followers have been ready to put down on the runway in the event that they loaded Barrett on a airplane to Salt Lake Metropolis. Knicks followers really like Barrett, loads, and Knicks followers have not often appreciated something the previous couple a long time.
So there may be that. And that issues.
So does this: Barrett clearly desires to be right here. Now, look, $30 million a yr isn’t precisely minimal wage, however the Knicks might have added an additional yr and an additional $73 million to sweeten the deal and didn’t. Barrett remains to be poised to signal on for 4 extra years. When your finest gamers present such affinity for his or her scenario, that could be a terrific signal.
So is that this: The Knicks clearly need Barrett. They need him to be a part of the core going ahead alongside Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson — and, perhaps, Mitchell. The Knicks nonetheless consider they will get a Mitchell deal carried out even with out together with Barrett. And by signing him they'll take away that chit as even an possibility, not less than for now. Groups turn out to be higher by locking up good gamers. To this point, so good for the Knicks.
There's a lot to be enthusiastic about. Barrett was the No. 3 decide within the 2019 draft, and if he hasn’t proven the off-court pizzazz of Zion Williamson or the on-court aptitude of Ja Morant, he has embraced a fame as one of many NBA’s bluest blue-collar employees.
“Some guys work laborious as a result of they know somebody is watching them,” Tom Thibodeau stated final winter. “RJ works laborious as a result of that’s who he's, as a result of he loves basketball, as a result of he desires to maintain getting higher. And you may see what the outcomes are.”
Barrett has improved, in massive leaps, in each Yr 2 and Yr 3. It's laborious to know precisely what his ceiling is as a participant, however you will be sure he'll crash into it, and attempt to recalibrate it. There may be fear he's nonetheless a little bit of a tweener — he likes to combine it up inside however he’s simply 6-foot-6; he's snug taking the three however generally is a streaky shooter (and, in reality, he fell from 40.1 p.c to 34.2 from past the arc from his second to his third years, the one space of his sport that regressed).
However it's not laborious to consider he has spent on daily basis of summer season launching a number of hundred pictures a day. That’s simply who he's. It’s what makes him a sensible participant round which to attempt to construct one thing. There is no such thing as a questioning that he cares. If that looks like a modest commonplace, effectively … have a look across the NBA.
“Actually, it’s good that so a lot of my numbers are up this yr,” Barrett stated in February. “However none of it issues should you aren’t profitable, and we aren’t profitable. You play this sport to win, to win championships. That’s the one factor that ought to matter.”
After all, the subsequent step is a more durable one. Barrett remains to be solely 22 and can play your complete yr as a 22-year-old (except the Knicks wind up within the Finals). It stays exceptional how younger he actually is. However sooner or later, these are simply figures on a start certificates. Sooner or later, perhaps instantly, Barrett will cease being graded on spec. He’s near a $30 million-per-year participant now. He’s now not a futures inventory.
Now, that shouldn’t trouble Barrett, as a result of nothing appears to trouble him. However he has dedicated to the Knicks, and the Knicks have dedicated to him, and he has turn out to be, at 22, the most well-liked Knick and never by a small quantity. All good. Might be all nice. Actually, it’s all as much as RJ Barrett now.
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