New York Knicks: 3 Christmas wishes from Saint (K)nick

2. A more consistent RJ Barrett

Yes, that might be too much to ask from a rookie that is constantly under the spotlight, but RJ Barrett is no regular rookie. You’d have to be living in a cave to not have heard about this Canadian prodigy since his high school days.

Barrett has pretty much been a lock for a top pick in the 2019 NBA Draft since entering the teen years of his young life. It seems like all those years, we’ve been watching a superstar in the making.

Additionally, Barrett previously expressed his love for the city of New York and that the New York Knicks have always had a special place in his heart.

But truth be told, it is not easy being a 19-year-old rookie in the biggest city of the country, playing basketball for an organization that has you under the spotlight 24/7. Unfortunately for RJ, this pressure has gotten to him in his rookie campaign.

Do not get this confused. Barrett is not having a bad rookie season at all. Besides, the slide says “more consistent” and not “better”.

If we were to compare RJ to last year’s first-round selection Kevin Knox and his pre-Christmas level of play, we’d see that Barrett has exceeded those numbers in almost every category … except his efficiency.

Knox, a player that was heavily (and rightfully) criticized for his inconsistency and bad shot selection, shot 38.7 percent on his field goals and 34.4 percent on his 3-point shots. Barrett not is not only shooting lower than rookie Knox but has also added dreadful 54.9 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

That is often a serious issue with rookies as they are coping with this gigantic change in their lives. Barrett steps on the court and you can’t ever guess if he’s going to score two points on 0-of-9 shooting or do this:

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1207131882137231362?s=20

One thing that is culpable has to be the freelancing style of New York’s offense. Players almost always struggle to find their groove as the team’s offensive possessions usually end up as isolating plays featuring Julius Randle, Marcus Morris or the Maple Mamba, RJ.