This New York Knicks season may not have gone the way fans had hoped, but along the way, there’s been a very important development occurring that should outweigh any sort of short-term success.
Through muddy waters, cloudy skies, and the everlasting pessimism that is attached to the Knicks franchise, the organization has finally found a homegrown player who is up for the challenge of changing the course of the team. That player is RJ Barrett.
RJ Barrett is “that guy” for the New York Knicks
I truly don’t know if I’ve encountered a player who has had such a constant belittling from the national media than Barrett.
Like any New York fan, I’ve consumed an unhealthy amount of Barrett content over the last three years. I become a braindead procrastinator when it comes to my taxes but when it comes to Barrett, I become an analytical scientist detective film buff defender of his game.
While I’ve always remained optimistic of Barrett, it’s really been his year three leap that’s been eye-opening as to what he can be in the NBA.
And yet, even in his extremely young age and all of the visible developments and dominating performances, it feels as though there’s still more highlighted about the minuscule negative components as opposed to the remarkably encouraging positives.
Now here we are in his third year, at 21 years old, and the way you hear opposing players, teammates, coaches, trainers talk about Barrett… the comments that come from people who matter in the basketball world — it seems fairly clear that he is on a path to stardom.
How did that path start and how confident can we be that he’s truly the one that can save the Knicks?
With all of the “instant stars” that come into the league and dominate as rookies, Barrett’s slower progression is surely a major cause of his lack of unanimous recognition. Makes no mistake, he’s the type of player New York has been yearning for.
RJ Barrett’s uphill battle
Concerns about Barrett’s game were valid in both his rookie year and into his sophomore season. That’s exactly why his play over the last few months has been validation that he’s exploding into stardom.
To make the drastic improvements that Barrett’s made since he first stepped onto an NBA court in such a short time is truly astounding. I certainly didn’t think he was ever going to be a consistent 3-point shooter.
Even if some of his weaknesses from his first professional season haven’t necessarily turned into “strengths”, they’ve come a long way. Think about Barrett’s layup packages and dribble combos today. Those simply didn’t exist when he first got into the league.
For me, this is really the crux of the problem when it comes to the national conversation around Barrett. Many people seem to be latching onto those flaws from his rookie year as if they’re the “true” components to his game. Whenever Barrett has a good game, it’s an outlier. Or a good week. Or month. Or couple of months.
Instead of simply being an extraordinarily promising young player (who has an outrageously high profile basketball pedigree) who’s developing over time, he gets the perception of being an inherently flawed player who will forever be boxed into being “limited.”
The benefit of the doubt seems to not exist with him. There will continue to be over-analyzed conjectures about Barrett’s ascension having more to do with outside factors — I’ve already seen some brand new threads and articles clinging to specific nit-picked advanced stats that indicate Barrett’s success is a result of “usage” or “luck” or some other last line of defense argument for the naysayers.
So as the goalposts continue to move for Barrett, let’s look at the actual numbers and why he’s so primed for sustained success.
RJ Barrett’s rise in 2022
It wasn’t a great start for RJ Barrett this season. In fact, it was a really scary start. He had a horrific month of November where he looked lost.
Meshing with the other Knicks, including newcomer Evan Fournier, was a new challenge for him. It wasn’t just the numbers — he didn’t look comfortable.
And as Barrett got back on track in December, he still looked more like the “solid starter” caliber of player from last season. Then came the new year, and then came the next evolution of Barrett.
Since Jan. 1st, he’s averaged:
- 23.8 points per game
- 6.0 rebounds per game
- 3.8 assists per game
That’s in 28 games which is over a third of an NBA regular season. It’s a very long stretch of basketball.
A lot of Barrett’s success has come with his propensity to drive to the rim. While his finishing ability is still a work in progress (although it has improved year after year) there’s one part of his game that he’s always excelled at — actually getting to the rim.
Barrett’s leading the team with a whopping 15.8 drives per game in 2022. He averaged 8.2 drives per game from October to December.
Barrett’s strength, length, and ball control have always allowed him to get to the rim on his defender quite well. But now, with the increased reps, he’s learning about the smart decisions he needs to make with the ball.
You see it his game — new dribble combos, layup packages, in-between floaters, more decisive kick-out passes. He’s driving with a newfound calmness.
That’s something that comes with experience. Those jittery, indecisive moments are few and far between with Barrett in 2022.
He’s evolving into this incredibly dangerous, multi-level scoring wing player who can take on a ton of ball-handling responsibilities. On the defense side of the ball, he’s always guarding the opposition’s best player. He hasn’t entered any sort of “elite” tier as a defender but he certainly has the tools to get there.
Even with all of these major improvements in Barrett’s game, there’s still one more factor that goes into his future as the face of New York’s franchise.
RJ Barrett’s determination
There’s a certain quality that you need to have to be a star athlete in New York City. A certain charisma, je ne sais quoi.
It can have different appearances on different people, but many New Yorkers will point to athletes such as Derek Jeter, Eli Manning, Henrik Lundqvist, and others of the past as athletes who embodied what it takes to be the face of a New York franchise.
It’s a blend of being obsessed with your craft, quiet off the field, and truly being a leader by example. Barrett embodies a lot of those special qualities.
The only things you ever really hear about him are how hard he works on his game and how much he loves being with the Knicks.
For a franchise that has not only been synonymous with losing but has failed to maintain any homegrown talent over an extended period of time, Barrett’s the best chance the team’s had in a while.
That same dedication and love for the game are why it’s so easy to see Barrett as a player who will continue to ascend. This is a player who has completely flipped the script on certain aspects of his game that were once considered flaws.
Imagine if you put Barrett’s 2022 numbers over a full season? Just under 24 points per game? At 21-years-old?
This season may be a disappointment, but in the long term, fans may look at the leap of Barrett being far more important than making the play-in tournament.
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