On draft night 2019, with the third pick, the New York Knicks selected RJ Barrett. The fans went wild and right away hoped he would be the Knicks’ savior. His face on the side of a building showed the hope this City has in him.
RJ Barrett was groomed to be a New York Knick at his Grandpa’s knee. Literally. A winner during his high school years and during his one year at Duke, RJ has received many accolades. Not since LeBron James has a high school player won every major award and also won the national championship. His college awards are just too many to list.
Now, at the ripe old age of 19, he finds himself on a losing team. Not once has RJ complained. He sees the other rookies from his class on if not winning teams, teams that win.
In his short NBA career, Barrett has already had more drama than most in his rookie class may have in their career. His team is the third worse in the league at 11-29, his first coach was fired in a melodramatic fashion, his present coach is working hard to stay his coach, and trade rumors are swirling around his teammates.
Does it tear him down? Do the social media posts and his team being comic relief for the media get to him? It doesn’t seem that way. Through it, Barrett continues to put his head down and play. He’s not having 30 point nights, and he’s still working on his free throws, but in the last five or so games, you see an RJ improving and growing that means business.
With the ever-present snarl he has on his face RJ goes barging through to the basket, grabbing offensive and defensive rebounds, and he’s started making his free throws. In five of his last six games, RJ has
- vs the Clippers: 24 points, six rebounds and 9 of 11 from the free-throw line;
- vs the Lakers: 19 points, five rebounds and four of six from the free-throw line;
- vs the Pelicans: 16 points, nine rebounds and five of eight from the free-throw line; and
- vs the Heat: 24 points, five rebounds and eight of 10 from the free-throw line.
Under tremendous pressure in the fourth quarter of Sunday afternoon’s Miami Heat game, RJ scored seven of his team’s 40 points, helping secure the win against a third-place Heat team that’s been playing some tremendous basketball.
The 2018-2019 team, with Mitchell Robinson (the next great center of the league) that won only 17 games, never complained either. They believed help was on the way. Is RJ that help? On the night he was drafted, RJ made his first call to his new teammate Kevin Knox II. If the Knicks management is serious about rebuilding, they will leave their young core and their first-round picks intact, and build the Knicks team of the future.