New York Knicks rookie RJ Barrett has announced his intention to play for Team Canada at the last-chance Olympic qualifying tournament next summer, according to a report from TSN's Josh Lewenberg.
Barrett who hails from Mississauga, Ontario, made the announcement prior to Wednesday night's matchup against the Toronto Raptors.
“One-hundred per cent I plan to play for my country this summer,” Barrett said, via CTV.
RJ Barrett says he'll join Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the others to recently commit in playing for Canada this coming summer. "100%. I definitely plan playing. I'm very proud to say that."
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) November 27, 2019
According to CTV, Canada will host Greece, the Czech Republic, Turkey, China and Uruguay in its push for an Tokyo Olympic berth.
The Knicks selected Barrett with the No. 3 overall pick in this year's draft. He's currently listed as day-to-day with an illness, but most reports are indicating that he'll play in Wednesday night's game against the Raptors.
In his 16 appearances with the Knicks thus far (all starts), Barrett has racked up averages of 15.1 points on 41.3 percent shooting from the field (34.7 percent from beyond the arc), 5.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 33.4 minutes per outing.
New York has struggled to find any sort of rhythm through the early stages of this season, as their 4-13 overall record can attest. They'll look to snap a three-game losing streak in Wednesday night's game against the Raptors. Tip-off inside Scotiabank Arena is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
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