Should Knicks consider trading RJ Barrett during offseason?
Amid a rather disappointing season, many Knicks fans have wondered if the front office should trade RJ Barrett to bring in a potential star to play next to Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson.
While this certainly isn’t the worst season fans have seen from Barrett, his play has been less than ideal considering how good the Knicks have looked this season.
Who knows what Leon Rose’s plan is for this offseason, however, with New York potentially finishing as a top-five seed for the second time in three years, we could see him become much more aggressive in the offseason.
Should Leon Rose and the Knicks look to trade RJ Barrett this offseason?
Again, this has not been a completely bad season for Barrett, but there are no doubts that it has been a disappointing one. Barrett is averaging 19.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the field and 32.6% from three on 5.4 attempts.
In addition to his pretty poor offensive season, Barrett has seen a slight decline defensively. While his one-on-one, on-ball defense is rather solid (maybe even good), his off-ball defense is amongst some of the worst in the league and it has killed the Knicks at times.
Barrett has had moments during the season where he has looked fantastic, such as the 25-game stretch where he averaged 22.0 points per game on 46.3% shooting from the field and 38.7% shooting from downtown on 5.5 attempts. However, his play has been rather lackluster for the majority of this season and it’s beginning to become a problem.
Maybe we see a jump in play out of Barrett through the last 14 games of the season and in the playoffs that help turn this narrative around, but the fact that this is even a discussion is quite worrisome.
The Knicks might have to consider trading RJ Barrett if they can land a star
As much as it pains me to say, if the right star becomes available in the offseason, Leon Rose would be wrong not to include a player like RJ Barrett in that deal. Hopefully, Barrett will prove me wrong, but at this rate, a change may need to be made to benefit both sides.
While this could easily not be the case, as the scenario of another Julius Randle collapse in the playoffs could severely change the course of the Knicks’ future, thus making Rose want to keep Barrett for the future, the odds aren’t looking good.
If a player like Karl-Anthony Towns, Deandre Ayton, heck, maybe even Damian Lillard becomes available, we very well could see the Knicks make a move that potentially involves RJ Barrett leaving in return for a star.
Barrett hasn’t capped his potential in this league yet, as he is just 22, but bringing in a third All-Star level player to the Knicks could do wonders for the team’s success.
The number one thing Barrett has struggled with throughout his career thus far has been consistency. There will be a span of 25 games like this season where Barrett looked like the All-Star player he should be, then a 10-game stretch of absolutely putrid basketball.
Consistency is desperately needed to be a successful basketball team, so again, trading Barrett and other assets for an All-Star who is much more consistent and flat-out better is going to improve the Knicks’ odds of making a potential championship run.
It’s unfortunate that this is the point we are at with Barrett’s career, however, a trade could bring more success to both the Knicks and Barrett himself. A new scenario, team, and coach could improve Barrett’s odds of being the star player he should have been by now.
