Knicks' RJ Barrett not under load management like Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson
New York Knicks' RJ Barrett brings the ball up against the Minnesota Timberwolves in a preseason game. Credit: AP/Bebeto Matthews
The Knicks have carefully managed the minutes for Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart through the start of the preseason schedule, limiting their load after the two spent part of the summer playing for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup.
Allowing them to acclimate to the NBA season after the international play is understandable. But that doesn’t explain why RJ Barrett, who played just as many World Cup games for Team Canada, has not been afforded the same treatment.
Barrett played more than twice as much as Brunson in the opening preseason game and then a team-high 26 minutes Saturday.
“Yeah, it’s a good question,” coach Tom Thibodeau said after the Knicks’ loss to Minnesota on Saturday, a game in which Barrett scored a team-best 23 points.
“It’s just the way we feel we should manage it right now. There’s two schools of thought. [Minnesota’s Anthony] Edwards went out and played 27 minutes. We’re ramping things up. We’ve got the back-to-back coming up. So there will be only one more game. We’ve got to be ready. Whatever we have to do, that’s what we have to do.”
Barrett actually played more minutes in the World Cup than either Brunson or Hart. Brunson averaged 20.3 minutes per game in eight games for Team USA and Hart averaged 18.2 minutes in eight games. Barrett played 30.6 minutes per game in eight games for Team Canada, which earned a victory over Brunson and Hart in the third-place game.
“Trying to find a balance,” Barrett said Friday. “Just making sure I’m working hard getting ready for that first game, but also just knowing and understanding my body. I have played for an extra month just now. So making sure I’m on top of my treatment and everything. I’ll be OK.”
Brunson played less than six minutes in the opening game and 14 minutes on Saturday. Hart sat out the opener and played less than eight minutes off the bench Saturday.
All three have not seemed to limit their effort when they are on the floor.
Hart entered the game with 4:52 left in the first quarter, and 24 seconds later, he chased down a pass from Quentin Grimes on a fast break and went into the stands, flipping over the first row of seats and landing on the floor.
Before the game, he was asked if he was nursing an injury. Thibodeau would only say that he was “nicked up.”
Hart’s answer to the question: “How much time you got? I’m getting old, that’s all it is. Just old. The amount of games played. Nothing of note.”
Asked if with the play during the summer, he doesn’t need as many minutes in preseason to be ready for the Oct. 25 season opener, he said, “I’ll let you know the first game.”
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.
