New York Knicks: Ranking the young core by trade value

1. RJ Barrett

RJ Barrett is a piece who could get Leon Rose that star player he reportedly intends to chase. The former No. three pick has elite offensive potential with four 25-point games already under his belt.

When the season was suspended, Barrett was averaging 30.4 minutes, 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.1 3-pointers made on a .402/.320/.614.

The free throw shooting is a concern, but you need to consider Barrett shot 51.1 percent from the line in October and November. If you take the dreadful start out of it, he shot a much more respectable 67.1 percent since.

The 19-year-old will likely never be a sharpshooter, but that’s not where his strengths lie anyway. According to NBA.com, Barrett averages 9.8 drives per game while Basketball-Reference says nearly 40 percent of his attempts come within three feet of the rim.

Robinson is on a history-making pace with his shot-blocking, and RJ isn’t quite there yet, but we’ve seen 56 games. Twenty-two of those were with David Fizdale, and some of those were with the kid playing point guard for the first time in his life.

Barrett was third behind Julius Randle and Marcus Morris in minutes, scoring, and usage, but his aggressiveness started to show more following the Morris trade. Unfortunately, Barrett still shared the court with Randle and Elfrid Payton, who do nothing to help along with his development.

(I won’t go too far down the Elf and Randle rabbit hole because I’ll never get out. They stink together for this team and should be traded. Okay, we’re done.)

Barrett embraced playing for the Knicks and the challenge of being a young star in New York. His donation to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic shows what kind of person he is at just 19 years old.

I don’t believe the Knicks should be shopping RJ Barrett, but if they did, the former Blue Devil would fetch the most of anyone on their roster.