The New York Knicks fell off the pace again during the 2021-22 season after having made the playoffs the season before that. Julius Randle’s performance dipped, and the rest of the roster wasn’t able to do much, with the team missing out on the playoffs entirely, despite having promising young players like Obi Toppin on the team.
And they have been quite active in free agency, agreeing to a deal with free agent guard Jalen Brunson. And it would seem that they are not quite done for the offseason either, with reports that the Knicks could be in the market to trade for Donovan Mitchell after news broke that the Jazz is open to trades for the young star.
Mitchell is the kind of player that can instantly raise them into playoff contention year after year and a trade for him would be a bigger acquisition than the Knicks have made in a while. However, while potential deals are being discussed, insider Ian Begley has reported that one player they will not let go of is RJ Barrett.
“People in touch with the club recently said New York has had no interest in trading RJ Barrett in any deal.
“Barrett is eligible for an extension. The deadline to agree to the extension is the day before the regular season. Both the Knicks and Barrett are optimistic about finding common ground on an extension.”
Barrett has been the one bright spot for the Knicks in recent seasons, and he has improved every year in the NBA. RJ averaged 20 points per game last season, to go along with over 5 rebounds and 3 assists. His potential is extremely high, and he would be a valuable piece for the Knicks moving forward.
It remains to be seen if they can actually find a deal with the Jazz to land Mitchell without including him, although the Knicks do have a lot of draft picks to play with. If the Jazz decide they want a haul of picks similar to what they got for Rudy Gobert, then it might just work out for the Knicks after all.
