NY Knicks: Zion Williamson/RJ Barrett relationship is something to watch for

When the NY Knicks are heading into an offseason with cap space, it means they’re going to be linked to every superstar in the league.

It typically leads to photoshopped images, exaggerated “news” reports, and “hypothetical” articles about “trade packages” for superstars who aren’t even being made available.

NY Knicks: Zion Williamson’s situation is actually worth monitoring

So I’m not going to write a “What would it take for the NY Knicks to trade for Zion Williamson” article because we’re not there…yet.

The thing that differentiates Zion Williamson from previously rumored big-names is that there are actual, real-life ties to the Knicks that are, well, pretty obvious. Not only are the connections there, but Zion Williamson is a player who appears to be in an incredibly murky, sinking environment in New Orleans.

It seems like with star players of the past, the “evidence” given that they want to head to New York is simply that they play in a smaller market, period. Thinking of the recent names like the Donovan Mitchells and Devin Bookers, those are the kinds of rumors that just come from thin air.

The early Zion Williamson rumors actually tie into recent reporting about his family, New Orleans’ front office, and his own personal happiness. His current situation is just the first piece of the equation. It starts with his close ties to the NY Knicks’ roster.

NY Knicks: Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett’s friendship

Any basketball fan knows the basics of these two young players’ relationship. They were heralded prospects who were college teammates for a Duke University team that received as much national publicity as any college basketball team in recent memory.

Williamson and Barrett’s bond was noted throughout their season college season by coaches, reporters, and teammates. At the time, teammate Javin DeLaurier said “Around us, they talk in this weird dialect-language. When they’re together, they’re trouble.” Another teammate, Tre Jones, said, “Neither of them really care about the outside stuff, and they don’t let it come between their friendship.”

The brotherhood the two formed as college teammates was a healthy one. Both were top-tier talents who knew wanted to be the best but never allowed jealousy to get in the way. Duke assistant coach Chris Carrawell commented, “They genuinely want each other to do well…They’re each other’s biggest fans.”

Not all college teammates form strong friendships. If players had played together in college or during AAU, it’s easy to make assumptions about those players’ connection when we’re on from the outside looking in.

With RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson, it’s an actual well-documented bond. These things don’t always matter in the NBA, but sometimes they do. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving’s friendship led them to craft a shared vision of joining the Brooklyn Nets. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade’s well-documented friendship was at the core of their teaming up with the Miami Heat.

Now, at the core of the potential Williamson to New York rumors, is his strong brotherhood with RJ Barrett. The connections don’t stop there.

NY Knicks: Further clues linking Zion Williamson to New York

Yes, I’m going to include the video of Zion Williamson cheesing when asked about playing at MSG.

Yes, we’ve heard that response from other opposing players when asked about their thoughts on playing in the world’s most famous arena. The difference with Zion Williamson was the clear burst of excitement that shot through his facial muscles causing him to not be able to hold back a big, bright, widespread smile.

We can get into the details of his current situation in New Orleans in a bit, but let’s look at some more links to the Knicks roster.

Zion Williamson and Immanuel Quickley are also close friends who were also roommates at one point.

In a preseason interview with the New York Post, Immanuel Quickley talked about his relationship with Williamson. When asked how they met, Quickley said:

"“Through Adidas. We played on the same AAU circuit, and we went to a whole bunch of different places — Italy, Spain I think and Aruba — and he was my roommate for all of those trips.”"

They have been hooping together for quite some time now.

You can’t ignore these kinds of relationships. In today’s player empowerment era of the NBA where players are taking control of their careers and where they go and who they play with, the bonds that players make outside of their current teammates’ matter.

The ties between Zion Williamson and the NY Knicks organization are massive, but it doesn’t stop there. His present-day situation with the team he plays for, the New Orleans Pelicans, is what starts the rumors. It isn’t looking too pretty, which means it’s looking pretty nice for New York.

NY Knicks: Zion Willamson could grow tired of New Orleans mediocrity

Zion Williamson has only played two years in the league, but there has been zero progress or any indication that his team is headed in the right direction.

On paper, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram are one of the best young duos in the NBA. The Pelicans have a younger team, but in today’s NBA you can’t just call yourself a young team year after year as an excuse for losing.

It’s pretty clear that New Orleans’ front office has recognized that, as they fired recently fired head coach Stan Van Gundy and will now search for Williamson’s 3rd coach in three years. It may be a panic move, but it’s the right thing to do – This team absolutely needs to get to right in 2021-22 and compete for the playoffs, otherwise, the roster may begin to collapse.

An article came out about a week ago on the Athletic chronicling Stan Van Gundy’s demise and the current turmoil that has encapsulated the New Orleans Pelicans.

It was a detailed, in-depth look at Williamson and the team that was written by reputable reporters Shams Charnia, Joe Vardon, and William Guillory. The opening paragraph saying,

"“For months, sources from all NBA corners have pointed to the Pelicans as a heap of dysfunction. There was a growing unease between Van Gundy and his players, and Van Gundy and the New Orleans front office, which came to a head Wednesday with the veteran coach and organization agreeing to part ways with three years left on his contract. Most of the attention, however, from numerous sources across the league, has centered on Williamson’s family members’ thinly veiled unhappiness with the Pelicans, and whether those feelings seeped into the player’s own views.”"

Some might be seeing this as just noise, but when it’s a valid report with multiple plugged-in NBA sources contributing, you listen.

Look at what happened with the Dallas Mavericks, who coincidentally had a bombshell article also posted by The Athletic about the team’s troublesome front office, to which owner Mark Cuban responded with “Total Bull****”.

Well, one day later, their long-time general manager stepped down, and the next day, their long-time head coach Rick Carlisle, who Mark Cuban re-endorsed, decided to move on from the team. These reports matter.

It’s a pivotal time for the Pelicans’ organization to make the right decision at head coach and not be complacent with their roster decisions. They cannot just lurk around the 11th seed in the Western Conference for years with the “we’re still young” attitude.

Piecing everything together, from the multitude of connections to NY to the ongoing dysfunction in New Orleans, Zion Williamson looks like the young budding star that the NY Knicks actually have a realistic chance of acquiring in the next 1-2 years. Forget about the “Luka Doncic-Bradley Beal-LeBron James big-3 whatever-blah blah-awesome-cool that would be crazy” storylines that come with no evidence, but optimistically monitor the Zion Williamson situation.