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Knicks' Playoff Pressure Shifts to RJ Barrett
A court of public opinion so fascinated by metropolitan failure will show no mercy if/when the New York Knicks are removed from the 2023 NBA Playoffs. But among the 16 competing for the Larry O'Brien Trophy, the Knicks are among the teams with the littlest to lose.
While far and away the most tightly-debated first round series in the NBA postseason that tips off on Saturday, the Knicks are undeniable underdogs against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Most of that stems from the arrival of Donovan Mitchell, a former New York target that has thrust the Cavs from Play-In Tournament fodder to its first appearance in the proper NBA Playoffs sans LeBron James since 1998.
If the Knicks fall in the series that begins on Saturday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN), there's no shame in falling to a Cleveland group whose willingness to part ways with a good part of a young core that mustered 44 wins (including potential Most Improved Player Lauri Markkanen) clearly placed them in "win now" mode. A fifth-place posting in the Eastern Conference was enough of a victory for the team this season, one far from the Play-In purgatory many prognosticators envision at the start of the year. Jalen Brunson living up to everything asked of him and then some in the first year of a $104 million contract bestowed over the summer hints that the Knicks might have something both exciting and sustainable in their seemingly perpetual rebuild.
The same can't be said, alas, for one individual on the Knicks' roster.
Mitchell's name will undoubtedly follow RJ Barrett for the rest of his career. Almost every Mitchell discussion in New York last summer was unfinished without dropping Barrett's name, as many saw him as a necessary sacrifice to hardwood nirvana to bring the Elmsford native home to the Empire State.
Barrett indeed appeared on the Knicks' transaction ledger on the same day as Mitchell ... albeit in separate columns. Shortly before Mitchell's move from Utah to Cleveland was announced, the Knicks revealed that Barrett would be retained beyond his rookie contract on a four-year extension worth $107 million.
Opting not to adhere to Danny Ainge's ransom note trade demands created the ultimate basketball monkey's paw wish for Barrett. The Knicks' homegrown franchise earned a nine-figure payday but the team placed a new burden on him upon keeping its dignity and sanity amidst the Mitchell madness: until further notice, Barrett is the primary beneficiary of the current Cav's absence. It's now up to him to make sure he doesn't go down in New York lore as the primary reason why Mitchell never made it home.
So far, that hasn't been the case.
Never mind the idea of seeking postseason redemption after Barrett struggled in his NBA playoff debut two years ago against Atlanta. A rollercoaster season saw Barrett regress in almost every major statistical category, his shooting being a primary concern. The Duke alum had his share of jaw-dropping, show-stopping moments (a coast-to-coast, buzzer-beating dunk against his Canadian countrymen from Toronto in January stands out) but for every step forward, there were two steps back (i.e. following-up a brilliant 30-point showing a crucial win over Miami with a 6-of-21 effort from the field in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers).
Nagging injuries certainly didn't help: Barrett had a heavy workload in 73 games this year but the recapturing of his professional spark (a nine-game December stretch where he averaged 26.1 points and 6.1 rebounds) was interrupted by a finger injury sustained in the Knicks' first game after Christmas. Barrett also wasn't on the floor for the Knicks' playoff-clinching victory over Washington earlier this month, forced out due to an illness.
Fortunately for the Knicks' immediate fortunes, any Barrett regression was somewhat masked by the respective backcourt breakouts Jalen Brunson and Immanuel Quickley, as well as the resurgence of All-Star Julius Randle. Those struggles, however, did not go fully unnoticed. During the aforementioned loss to the Clippers, beloved Knicks commentator Walt "Clyde" Frazier noted that advanced stats labeled Barrett the Knicks' "worst guy" on defense.
As it stands, Barrett has endured one of the more curious careers in modern NBA history: his entire Knicks tenure is perhaps predicated on the concept of being a consolation prize, as he arrived as the third choice of the 2019 NBA Draft when poor lottery luck caused New York to miss out on the consensus top couple Zion Williamson and Ja Morant. Serving as the silver lining during a premier NBA franchise's lean years, as Barrett was in Manhattan last season, is solid work if you can get it.
But if Barrett truly wants to be a part of a truly hopeful period on the Knicks' franchise timeline, the coming series with the Cavs has inklings of make-or-break implications.
The NBA postseason is a place that can define fortunes both past and present. It can write future meal tickets ... or tear them up in front of you. Only the grouchiest, most-jaded basketball observer would dare call Barrett a bust and he appears more than capable of being a Duke alum that builds a lasting NBA career. But still undecided is how bright a spotlight and what sort of narratives follow him through that hardwood tenure.
Anyone in New York would be silly to publicly pin Barrett's future NBA fortunes on this series and what potentially lies beyond. But the worst-kept secret on the Knicks' playoff ledger has to be a potentially fateful opportunity for one of their longest-tenured representatives.
Barrett has been consolation in more ways than one. Mitchell's reappearances affords him a chance to be a star.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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