The New York Knicks look better than ever thanks to the acquisition of the crafty Jalen Brunson. However, with Brunson becoming the focal point of the offense, 22-year-old RJ Barrett — who is supposed to be face of the franchise — has had to sacrifice playmaking and scoring opportunities to accommodate the new arrival.
For those that believe this could become a source of tension in the Knicks locker room, Barrett’s outlook flies in the face of that possibility.
In the aftermath of Brunson’s 39-point outburst against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, the Athletic’s Fred Katz revealed that the four-year pro has embraced the situation, placing team success over individual accomplishments:
“We’re winning,” says Barrett.
“What’s better than that? Everyone always says they wanna be part of a winning team and stuff, and that’s kinda what it looks like. Just a bunch of good players. You don’t know whose night its gonna be on any given night.”
Barrett is averaging 19.5 points per game a season after averaging a career-high 20.0 points per game. His field goal attempts have experienced a slight drop, from 17.1 per game last season to 16.0 per game this season. Barrett’s’ usage rate has as well, from 27.6 percent last season to 26.0 percent this season.
To make matters worse, the connection between Brunson and Barrett hasn’t been particularly successful, with Barrett only shooting 35.7 percent off of Brunson’s passes (per NBA.com). For comparison, Barrett shoots 44.4 percent off of All-Star forward Julius Randle’s passes.
Still, with Brunson averaging 23.8 points and 6.2 assists per game while shooting an extremely efficient 48.5 percent from the field and 41.0 percent from 3-point range, there isn’t much anyone can say.
Barrett included.
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