RJ Barrett’s rookie season was filled with formidable highs and alarming lows. Some of those lows were due to RJ’s limitations as a player, but others were a direct result of the situation he was in.
Barrett may have been called to become the team’s franchise player, but the roster around him didn’t reflect that. While Barrett played some important games, he was used as a complementary player for much of the season.
Just because Barrett isn’t a point guard doesn’t mean he shouldn’t get most of the attacking touches.
RJ Barrett played well last season. In his last 13 games, Barrett has averaged 16 points per game while shooting just under 44% from the field. This despite getting fewer touches per game than Elfrid Payton, Julius Randle, Frank Ntilikina and Bobby Portis in that stretch.
Without going into too much detail on last season’s roster, we know it was bad. It was an unsuitable roster for the modern NBA. Stuck in the middle of the madness was a rookie RJ Barrett.
The next step of the Knicks in the season is developing their young players and creating a new team identity under Tom Thibodeau. The way they can do this is to give the keys to RJ Barrett.