Should the NY Knicks trade RJ Barrett?
Yeah, I know I’m gonna catch a lot of heat for this one…and to that I say, BRING IT ON!
Listen, I’m not necessarily here advocating for the Knicks to be actively seeking a trade partner for RJ Barrett.
But if the Knicks were to take the route of wanting to pair Julius Randle with a Superstar-level player, RJ would be the perfect centerpiece for that sort of deal.
Frankly, I’m done making excuses for RJ. I don’t care that “he’s only 21 years old”.
He’s regressed pretty mightily this season and I have way less belief in him becoming a star in the NBA than I did before.
I’m not saying he’s going to be a bad player by any stretch of the imagination.
I just don’t believe he has the same ceiling as I did before and I think in order for him to reach his fullest potential, he needs to be ‘the guy’ on a rebuilding team.
For example, if the Knicks decided to go all-in on a trade for Damian Lillard and Portland wanted to blow up their entire squad after shipping Dame to New York, building a team around RJ’s strengths and weaknesses could make him into a player on the cusp of All-Star caliber one day.
If the Knicks were to decide to continue their own rebuild like they probably planned on doing once Leon Rose took over, then of course I’d be happy to keep RJ and have him develop into something here.
All I’m saying here is that I no longer believe that RJ Barrett will one day become the Superstar savior of New York City, as I did when he was first drafted.