RJ Barrett has found his game during Knicks' winning streak
The Knicks' RJ Barrett battles the Bulls' Zach LaVine for the ball during the first half of an NBA game on Dec. 16 in Chicago. Credit: AP/Paul Beaty
CHICAGO — When the Knicks' front office embarked on its version of Star Search this past summer, chasing Donovan Mitchell and inquiring about every other star player hinted to be available, a surprising name surfaced as trade bait.
RJ Barrett was offered up in a package for Mitchell, and it wasn’t until the Knicks failed to make the deal that the front office quickly signed Barrett to a contract extension.
For much of last season, even through the struggles, Barrett was embraced at Madison Square Garden by the fans. Now he was left to consider his place in New York, the only place he’d wanted to play when he was drafted in 2019.
Without a contract extension at that point, he didn't want to get hurt during the summer. Did that uncertain time contribute to the slow start Barrett endured this season? Or was it just another case of what is becoming a pattern — that he starts slowly offensively every season?
Whatever the cause, Barrett has turned around his fortunes, coinciding with the Knicks' turnaround from a team in turmoil to the hottest team in the Eastern Conference. They will bring a six-game winning streak into Sunday’s game at Indiana.
“Glad you said it,” Barrett said when asked about his summer. “It was weird, not really getting to even play runs like I normally do. Really just going the whole time without basketball. It was a little weird. Got it done, trying to figure it out a little bit. Have a long way to go. Have to keep working.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to play basketball, man. I was still working out, but there’s no shape like game shape. Playing the games, getting used to that again, is the best thing.”
In the first 19 games of the season, as rumors began to circulate that coach Tom Thibodeau could be on the hot seat, that everyone outside of Jalen Brunson was trade bait and that even the front office was reaching the end of its rope as promises of landing stars failed, Barrett was shooting just 39.4% overall and a miserable 26.4% from three-point range.
But during the six-game winning streak, Barrett has averaged 22.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, shooting 43.1% overall and 41.2% from three-point range.
“He's playing really well, playing within himself,” Brunson said. “I think what's most important is that his mindset and demeanor doesn't change at all. He can have rough shooting nights, but he still plays well on the defensive end. He brings it. He keeps his mindset the same, and I love that about him.”
“Honestly, I play with the same confidence game in and game out,” Barrett said. “Even when I wasn’t shooting it well, I was probably still shooting the same amount of shots. Doesn’t matter. You get open shots, you shoot them. You work at this game hard enough, you do it for a number of years, your confidence is always there.
“One, I have some great teammates, great staff, that are always boosting me up for sure. On the other hand, knowing myself, especially being in a couple of years, seeing I’ve played well in this league already. All those things together gives you confidence.”
Is it enough to silence the rumors of a trade for Barrett? Or really, for breaking up a team that still lacks the singular star that Madison Square Garden wants to promote and the team wants to rely on?
The Knicks have been shopping some of the pieces around the edge of the roster, making Evan Fournier, Cam Reddish and Immanuel Quickley available for the right price.
The winning streak certainly has shifted the focus for the short term. Julius Randle is playing the way he did two years ago, averaging 27.0 points, 11.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in the last six games. Brunson has served as a guiding force on and off the court. The young player the Knicks didn’t want to include in a deal in the summer, Quentin Grimes, has ascended to a starting role and had a huge impact on both ends of the court.
And as critics raged, Thibodeau moved Fournier, Reddish and Derrick Rose out of the rotation completely and went with a defense-first grouping. Defense has turned contagious, with even the lesser defenders beginning to scramble with the fervor of the younger, hustling group.
How far can the Knicks go with this emphasis on defense paired with a no-star but diverse offensive arsenal? That certainly remains to be seen.
But for now, it’s working, and Barrett is no small part of that. Still just 22 years old and secured with a four-year, $107 million contract extension, he and the team are hopeful of finding a way to ease the ups and downs of offensive inconsistency.
“He's staying with me next summer, so he'll be good,” Thibodeau said with a smile. “No summer off. I wish I had the answer. I know he worked all summer. All three years, it's just a steady climb, and I like that. He doesn't get rattled, he keeps forging ahead. So it's a good mindset to have. I think he'll get there. The more times he goes through it, he'll rev the engine up and be ready to go.”
“Yeah, no. I knew he was going to say something like that,” Barrett said. “No, I’m not staying with Thibs. I’m going to come in and see him now and again.”
When it was suggested they could share an apartment, Barrett shook his head: “We’ll be watching film all day long.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
