RJ Barrett

[D-Leethal]

What I like is that he has flashed ability to score in bunches. As we saw in the Nets game, he was awful the first half but finally hit a jump shot and rattled off 14 pts in a quarter (I think). He also does this without dramatically slowing the game down, calling for the ball and doing predictable ISO’s ala Melo and Randle. He picks off buckets quickly which is a good trait. That’s how the great ones are able to take over games when they need to turn it up a notch.

[nycericanguy]

RJ will be good, im more worried about Obi who really hasn't had a standout game yet, preseason included. he looks more raw than I expected at age 22 and might struggle to get min.

Thibs is clearly sold on RJ playing him so many minutes, he views him as one of the top 2 players even at age 20.

[still a fan]

RJ needs to come down to earth and earn accolades, while I feel it's great to have self image, he carries it too far.

At one point I had him hard to trade but for the right package, repeat right package he is not on the you can't trade him list.

His defense has gotten worse with his poor shooting as well, I'm not sure a little benching might not be an eye opener for this kid. Not saying we have better saying I'm trying to protect this kid from himself.

He looked much better last night, but seriously we were playing the g-league cav's, and yet we still lost, great for Suggs,

[cheetos185]

I wanted to trade RJ and Mitch for Lamelo honestly that would have been the best value Knicks could have gotten for them I'm afraid RJs value isn't even worth a lotto pick and not sure if Knicks will sign back Mitch.

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[YoungStuna]

If we’re trying to win games, I would prefer RJ to take 1-2 threes per game tops. He should never play with Payton and there should always be at least 2 shooters on the floor with him and Randle.

And if RJ could shooter closer to 50% from 2PT (45% right now) and continue getting to the FT line with maybe 6-7 attempts per game, he would be a much more efficient scorer. Instead of taking 3s, he should be focusing on becoming a monster finisher, developing a reliable floater, and working tirelessly on a pull-up mid-range game to open up his drives.

I’d rather he improve upon his strengths than forcing to improve his weaknesses.

[KingKnicks]

Patience...

Barrett is an important part of the reconstruction process.

He has the potential to be solid and one of our best players on the court.

Receive Cade, Green or Suggs and the path will be made easier.

[D-Leethal]

RJ needs to come down to earth and earn accolades, while I feel it's great to have self image, he carries it too far.

At one point I had him hard to trade but for the right package, repeat right package he is not on the you can't trade him list.

His defense has gotten worse with his poor shooting as well, I'm not sure a little benching might not be an eye opener for this kid. Not saying we have better saying I'm trying to protect this kid from himself.

He looked much better last night, but seriously we were playing the g-league cav's, and yet we still lost, great for Suggs,

It will be interesting if Burks cuts into his minutes in any significant way. Burks is gonna cut into someones minutes, and Thibs has a hardon for Bullock.

I wanted to trade RJ and Mitch for Lamelo honestly that would have been the best value Knicks could have gotten for them I'm afraid RJs value isn't even worth a lotto pick and not sure if Knicks will sign back Mitch.

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Begley came out and said that the Knicks almost extended Mitch over the summer, but it was contingent on signing a big FA and once they struck out they decided to keep the books clean. Thibs loves Mitch and I don't see any world where we don't resign him.

[cheetos185]

It will be interesting if Burks cuts into his minutes in any significant way. Burks is gonna cut into someones minutes, and Thibs has a hardon for Bullock.



Begley came out and said that the Knicks almost extended Mitch over the summer, but it was contingent on signing a big FA and once they struck out they decided to keep the books clean. Thibs loves Mitch and I don't see any world where we don't resign him.

There is a two decades of Knicks Tom foolery to backup my claim on Mitch not coming back once his contract becomes expiring it won't have same value remember David Lee what did Knicks get for him?

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[ewing]

If Barrett is always a poor shooter can he exists as a player that is not a main guy? His game seems dependent on him having the ball a lot. I’m not sure if he can be a lesser role player.

[YoungStuna]

If Barrett is always a poor shooter can he exists as a player that is not a main guy? His game seems dependent on him having the ball a lot. I’m not sure if he can be a lesser role player.

Yeah I’m not sure he can play the role of someone like Hunter or Mikal Bridges and be effective.

[ShadyOne]

If Barrett is always a poor shooter can he exists as a player that is not a main guy? His game seems dependent on him having the ball a lot. I’m not sure if he can be a lesser role player.

Well, if he can’t shoot, and he can’t play off ball, what’s the point?

[TakeAnotherL]

Well, if he can’t shoot, and he can’t play off ball, what’s the point?

Id like to see him on the court with Mitch and 3 legit shooters.

I don't know why in the last 2 seasons we haven't done that for him, but IMO that should be a priority to see how that kind of lineup looks with RJ and Mitch.

IMO a team should only have 1 non shooter on the court. But with Mitch and RJ being our best young players, we should try to find out if we can make that work.

I don't know what the hell else were trying to do by not doing that, at some point this team needs to find out who's staying who's going, and you can't do that until you put players in position to succeed.

[YoungStuna]

Id like to see him on the court with Mitch and 3 legit shooters.

I don't know why in the last 2 seasons we haven't done that for him, but IMO that should be a priority to see how that kind of lineup looks with RJ and Mitch.

IMO a team should only have 1 non shooter on the court. But with Mitch and RJ being our best young players, we should try to find out if we can make that work.

I don't know what the hell else were trying to do by not doing that, at some point this team needs to find out who's staying who's going, and you can't do that until you put players in position to succeed.

I’d like to see Randle with Mitch and 3 shooters around him.

Mitch
Randle
Knox
Burks
Quickley

Let RJ run wild with the 2nd unit:

Noel
Obi
RJ
Frank/Bullock
Rivers/Payton

I think this set-up will win the most games and allow RJ to have the ball more. Otherwise he will remain inconsistent starting.

[still a fan]

I’d like to see Randle with Mitch and 3 shooters around him.

Mitch
Randle
Knox
Burks
Quickley

Let RJ run wild with the 2nd unit:

Noel
Obi
RJ
Frank/Bullock
Rivers/Payton

I think this set-up will win the most games and allow RJ to have the ball more. Otherwise he will remain inconsistent starting.

I like to see your first lineup as well but the second is destined to fail and your setting up a 20 yr old to fail as well. You don't Zion surrounded by that mess in the second unit. You actually gave RJ nothing, I mean nothing of value and not one true shooter?

TakeY is right at some point the Knicks need to play guys to figure out who is the future, you have to build somewhere. Most teams at the very least have some sort of identity, can anyone tell us what our's is for the future?

If Knicks are determined and resign Randle then I'm not sure what value RJ will have tbh. Unless RJ develops a clean jump shot if you include Mitch how can that really survive in this shooters league?

Look around the NBA, the second thought players on most courts are deadly shooters, the Net's put a team on the floor where a guy like Green and Harris would be our best shooters and they are not even secondary players.

[KnicksorBust]

Their seems be a general forum consensus around Mitchell Robinson and it is a positive one. We all seem to like him and trust him at center for the long-term. That's great.

The debate to me is between RJ Barrett and Julius Randle. Now going into the season it was a no brainer.

#1.) We were all frustrated with how Randle played last season.
#2.) RJ still had the shine of being the #3 pick.
#3.) We had just selected Obi Toppin.

We almost unanimously felt that the Knicks must trade Randle no matter what. Then the season started and Randle carried our team on his back to an early season winning streak and things have changed. RJ hasn't taken a step forward and clearly our starting lineup is broken.

Payton/Bullock/RJ/Randle/Mitch

That lineup does not work. The quick fix (no pun intended) is to replace the backcourt with 2 shooters/scorers and call it a day. The problem is Burks isn't ready to return and Thibs is hesitating to pull the trigger on Quickley as a starter. That's the short term problem. The long-term problem is that I'm not sure if the Rj/Randle pairing works. I don't think we can keep them both. Randle/Mitch lineup slows down the game and clogs up the paint. Those are two big no-no's for RJ. RJ needs to be a part of a faster team and needs room to drive. That leads us into the main topic of the thread. How do we feel about RJ Barrett long-term? Moving RJ to the bench is not the answer. He's a starter. To me it comes down to who do I want to bank for the Knicks future? Although right now it seems like a horrible decision I'd rather keep RJ long-term than Randle. I think we take advantage of Randle's hot start and trade him at his highest value NOW. Then we turn the keys over to:

PG - Quickley
SG - RJ Barrett
SF - Burks (or Knox if Burks isn't healthy)
PF - Toppin
C - Mitch

and just the roll the ball out and let the kids play.

Who do you guys like more RJ or Randle long-term?