4 Knicks that might’ve been in Utah if New York traded for Donovan Mitchell
1: RJ Barrett
To have a chance to win the series, the Knicks needed RJ Barrett to show up. His shots weren’t falling in Games 1 and 2 in Cleveland, but in Games 3 and 4, he turned it all the way up.
Barrett finished with 19 points (8-of-12 from the field, 3-of-6 from three) in Game 3 and a playoff career-high of 26 points (9-of-18 from the field) in Game 4. It should be noted that he missed all six of his three-point attempts on Sunday.
Rather than forcing bad looks, Barrett has been operating downhill and driving to the rim. His aggressiveness on the offensive end is what helped propel the Knicks to back-to-back wins over the weekend, which was especially needed with Randle’s ongoing offensive struggles.
The front office caught a lot of flak over the summer when the organization proceeded to extend Barrett to a four-year, $120 million deal rather than trade for Donovan Mitchell. Barrett’s name popped up the most in trade rumors, but in the end, the Knicks drew a hard line in the sand and committed to Barrett. His regular season was full of more downs than ups, but his explosiveness in the playoffs has been what every fan has been impatiently waiting for.
If New York does move on to the second round (I don’t want to jinx the Knicks), a large part of that will have been because of RJ Barrett.
It’s fitting that Knicks players that were included in offers to the Jazz have been instrumental for New York in a playoff series against Donovan Mitchell. Put some respect on Leon Rose’s name!
