New York Knicks rookie RJ Barrett has played the most minutes of any player in the 2019-20 NBA season, and that has to change.
Knicks head coach David Fizdale recently pushed back against criticism that knocked his decision to have the prized rookie logging this heavy workload, considering the Knicks have been out of most games and have quickly barreled to a 1-6 start, which is the worst record in the league.
Through seven games, Barrett is averaging 37.1 minutes per game, the fourth-highest minutes average in the league. That average alone, if kept throughout the entire 2019-20 season, would be enough to outpace Bradley Beal and Paul George, who logged a share for the most at 36.9 minutes per game in 2018-19.
While Barrett is putting up solid box score numbers in these big minutes with 18.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, it's not like he has been a tangible difference-maker when it comes to the Knicks' performance. His minus-50 is worst on the team, though that's obviously not all on him given the messy roster construction.
This argument came to a head after Barrett played 41 minutes in a 113-92 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night. This game was never close, and many wondered why Barrett played so many meaningless minutes in a blowout.
Fizdale didn't seem to care much for these questions:
“We got to get off this load-management crap,’’ said Fizdale after a loss to the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. “Latrell Sprewell averaged 42 minutes for a season. This kid is 19. Drop it already.’’
Bringing a comparison to Sprewell isn't necessarily the best way to defend his argument. Spree averaged 43.1 minutes per game in his second year with the Golden State Warriors, but they were a winning team that mustered 50 wins in 1993-94. That team was also swept out of the first round by the Phoenix Suns.
The Knicks are on pace to once again be the worst team in the NBA, and putting unnecessary miles on Barrett's wheels isn't really a smart strategy when trying to build for the future.
Barrett has shown he can handle the heavy load, but don't expect to trot him out for 37 minutes per game and make him last as long as Sprewell did 26 seasons ago when he played in all 82 games. The game is faster-paced, more athletic, and more physically demanding than ever before.
David Fizdale likes to encourage an old-school, rah-rah style of coaching, but this is a sonnet that has rung hollow in the ears of players and fans, as his outdated methods can actually be counterintuitive to what the Knicks are trying to achieve.
It surely doesn't help that the Knicks have developed no sense of identity — first coming off as a franchise that is hoping to develop its young talent, only to sign a slew of mid-tier veterans after missing out on a starstruck free agency.
Playing Barrett through pointless fourth quarters is simply not the answer, regardless of the direction the Knicks choose to take — not if they hope he can enjoy enough health to become the next star of the franchise.
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