NY Knicks: 3 Players who will see their roles change next season

NY Knicks: Player #3 — RJ Barrett

RJ Barrett is the player who I want to see have their role changed the most. The Knicks young stud showed enormous improvement off of a decent rookie season, and hopefully, he makes a huge third-year jump, similar to players like Jayson Tatum and Bam Adebayo.

RJ was the second-best player on a playoff contender last season, showing an increasingly versatile offensive game that nobody wants to remember. He still has much more room to grow also.

Barrett’s role is less of a role change and more of a role expansion. When you have a young player with a ceiling like Barrett’s, you have to jump on that.

Barrett is only one of eight players in NBA history to score more than 2,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 300 assists before turning 21. The others are either in the Hall of Fame or headed to the Hall of Fame, and yes, I am saying with certainty that Luka Doncic will one day be in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

RJ should stay the second option behind Randle, and the Knicks should focus on him more than last season, as he is their best young asset who deserves an increased role in the offense. It is a way to keep progressing his development into hopefully being an all-star in the next two years.

Despite the acquisition of more offense and the fact that some young guys can see increased roles, the Knicks’ focus should still be on Randle and Barrett’s 1-2 punch. Barrett’s role should expand into the surefire second option for the Knicks and their offensive leader when Julius Randle is off the court.