RJ FOREVER (or at least for the next 4 years)

The Knicks haven’t signed a rookie to a multi-year contract extension since Charlie Ward in 1999. There is a sentence that has been repeated nonstop this week following the Knicks and RJ Barrett coming to an agreement on a four-year contract extension worth up to $120 million.

Instead of mocking the Knicks for not re-signing the great Jordan Hill or Landry Fields, let’s actually celebrate them for making the correct decision of locking down RJ for the next half decade and essentially making it impossible to include him in a deal with Utah for Donovan Mitchell.

RJ Barrett was the no. 1 prospect out of high school. When players have this high a pedigree, talent and potential, you want them on your basketball team but because he took a bit of a backseat to Zion Williamson at Duke, RJ has become some hopeless afterthought to the NBA media.

Here’s a cute little stat to show what Barrett has managed to accomplish thus far in his under-the-radar career:

Only two players in NBA history have racked up more points, rebounds, assists and made 3-pointers than RJ Barrett before turning 22.

LeBron James and Luka Doncic.

— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) August 30, 2022

LeBron. Luka. RJ. Just 3 Hall-of-Famers doing legendary shit accumulating all of the numbers at very young ages.

Barrett may not have a game as exciting or electric as Zion Williamson or Ja Morant—the two players drafted ahead of him—but he is a bucket-getter by any means necessary. He’s never quicker than his defender but he’s more robust and crafty. He can lower his shoulder and carry a defender on his back as he trucks to the rim.

Outside of Jalen Brunson, RJ is the best Knick when it comes to navigating a pick n roll. He’s always aggressive in attacking rotations and frequently makes the correct decisions.

But my personal favorite RJ Barrett quality is his Eli Manning-esque ‘duh’ face that makes him come off so cool, calm and collected out there on the floor. He looks totally unbothered by the pressures of being the first rookie re-signed since 1999.

At only 22 years old, I believe his ceiling is being the second-best player on a championship team. He doesn’t have the athleticism to dominate on both sides of the floor for entire games like a Kawhi or Giannis but he has the ability to put the ball in the basket when it’s his turn to do so like a Khris Middleton or Paul George.

Unfortunately, RJ Barrett is playing on a team with Julius Randle.

Both players have similar playing styles except Randle has an All-NBA season under his belt that transformed him from a hustling hard-effort big man to a lethargic, crybaby who usurps entire possessions dribbling a hole through the hardwood before chucking up a brick, complaining to the ref about some foul call from a month earlier and letting the opposing team get an easy 5-on-4 basket on the other end of the floor.

Julius Randle is the guy who tries to win arguments by talking louder and nonstop but then when you finally get the opportunity to get a few words in he cuts off and shouts “CAN YOU LET ME SPEAK”.

And as far as any Donovan Mitchell trade goes, well, fuck that. RJ can be the guy who scores 25 points a game plus RJ is a far better defender.

I guarantee RJ will make the All-Star team this season and lead the team in points when the season is over. By April 2023, we will all collectively agree RJ is the best player on the Knicks and he will be the face of the franchise. Just as the prophecy foretold.