RJ Barrett Signs Extension with Knicks
Monday night RJ Barrett and the New York Knicks agreed on a contract extension. The extension was first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and then confirmed by Barrett’s agent Bill Duffy.
Barrett was in line for a rookie extension before possibly entering as a restricted free agent next offseason. Now he and the Knicks are agreeing upon a four-year rookie extension that can go up to $120 million.
This deal will more than likely impact the discussion around trading Donovan Mitchell to the Knicks. The extension is going to raise the value of his contract to the average of his extension and his rookie deal. This will be costly for the Jazz if they want him in a multi-player trade in both short-and-long term.
It's true that the Knicks gave a Monday deadline to the Jazz to get a Mitchell deal done, otherwise they would sign Barrett. The Jazz understood that deadline. A deal didn't get done on Monday and the Knicks committed $100 million to Barrett.
— Sarah Todd (@NBASarah) August 30, 2022
The Barrett extension talks started to reach the final stages when the Jazz and Knicks could not get a trade done. The Knicks gave the Jazz a Monday deadline to get the trade done. The possible trade of Mitchell-to-New York still remains. It will become harder once Barrett signs his extension because of the poison pill restriction in such a trade.
(The poison pill is when a team extends a player’s rookie scale contract but tries to trade that player before the extension kicks in.)
The Jazz and Knicks can still find a pathway on a Donovan Mitchell trade, but it's just harder to do: Out of 179 NBA players who've had the Poison Pill restriction, only one -- Devin Harris in 2008 -- was traded. https://t.co/4frUsOZzNf
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 30, 2022
Barrett is entering his fourth season with the Knicks. In 2019 he was the No. 3 overall pick. He has increased his scoring numbers the last two season. His rookie season he averaged 14.3 points per game, 2020-21 he averaged 17.6 ppg and last season he averaged 20 ppg.
The Knicks getting Mitchell would be an upgrade to their offense for sure but the defensive side is where fans should be worry. Mitchell is an undersized two guard and Brunson is small as well. If the trade goes through there will be major adjustments for coach Thibs to make.