thelesterlee
On Tuesday night, the New York Knicks lost 123-129 in overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers. With 6:51 left in the 4th quarter, Tom Thibodeau benched RJ Barrett. He would never touch the court again.
This has become a common theme for the Knicks as of late.
RJ Barrett sits most of the 4th quarter while Quentin Grimes, Jalen Brunson and Immanuel Quickley play together. Usually, Thibs puts RJ back in when the game gets within two minutes but against the Lakers, RJ couldn’t even get a second in overtime.
For context, here’s how RJ was playing before that final benching:
- 27 minutes
- 13 points
- 3 rebounds
- 2 assists
- 1 turnover
- 5-for-13 shooting from the field (38%)
- 0-for-3 from 3
My man SUCKED. But so did everyone.
The biggest difference is that RJ looked completely out of it on the defensive end. Lakers were blowing past him to the basket all night and his rotations were late.
You can say this same thing about Julius Randle on any given night and he will never sit out the end of games despite being a choke artist who forgets how to play basketball in crunch time. So perhaps something else is going on(?)
This benching miiiight have caused a potential problem.
RJ Barrett declined to talk to the media after he was benched for most of the fourth quarter and overtime.
“I got nothing to say.”
— Stefan Bondy (@SBondyNYDN) February 1, 2023
If RJ Barrett is now sitting on the bench next to his old Duke teammate, Cam Reddish, and the two of them are just getting pissed and feeding off each other’s spite then we could have a real problem in the locker room with coach Thibs.
So is it time to move on from RJ Barrett?
Watching RJ Barrett often feels like a punishment. It’s as if he’s playing on his own team and he is the star of whatever team he thinks he’s on.
When he gets the ball on the perimeter, you can almost guarantee he’s going to iso, dribble into double coverage and chuck up a layup in traffic that never goes in. Nothing RJ loves more than giving defenders easy blocked shots.
He makes his mind up on what he’s doing and he doesn’t adjust to what the defense is doing in real time. He never drives to the basket to draw defenders into the paint so he can dish it out to a shooter. Nope, if he’s driving then he’s looking down at the ball the entire time and hoisting a brick off the backboard.
The Knicks are heavily rumored to be front-runners for OG Anunoby and as much as I hate giving up multiple first-round draft picks for a guy who will never make an All-Star team, OG is a better player than RJ.
Anunoby is a better perimeter shooter, better finisher at the rim and an astronomically better on-ball defender than Barrett.
OG would make the Knicks a better team. He and Quentin Grimes could take turns locking up the opposing team’s best players while Immanuel Quickley and RJ Barrett come off the bench to add a powerful 1-2 punch to go against weaker benches in the league.
So no, I don’t think the Knicks need to “move on” from RJ Barrett but his role needs to be significantly reduced and better players need to come in and take his minutes.
And let’s just agree going forward that if a Donovan Mitchell or Damian Lillard becomes available in the future then RJ Barrett is 1000% going into that deal. What’s the opposite of being untouchable? RJ is extremely touchable. He’s the pole in a subway car. Please, NBA teams. Come touch RJ.
Do you think it’s time for the Knicks to move on from RJ Barrett? Leave a comment below. Respond on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. Or shoot me an email at Deadseriousmailbag@gmail.com. Let’s chat, bay-beeeee. Let me know if think RJ still has All-Star potential so I can get a good laugh in.
