RJ Barrett did not exactly have a career-defining rookie campaign for the New York Knicks last season. Selected third overall in last year's draft, the former Duke standout was unable to make a big enough impact to help the Knicks emerge into relevance into the East. Nonetheless, new Knicks head coach Tim Thibodeau had nothing but good things to say about his young guard.

Thibodeau admitted that Barrett continues to be a work in progress, but that he sees a lot of potential in the youngster:

“It’s been great,” Thibodeau said, via Ian Begley of SNY. “Obviously, there’s a lot of work to be done. These are the initial steps. The offseason is critical for any young player. So obviously you can get going on the development piece, which I think is critical. That holds true for all our players. But he’s been great, eager, he’s working hard. If he does that day after day he will improve quite a bit.”

RJ Barrett averaged 14.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.0 steals in 30.4 minutes per contest. There were undoubtedly some flashes of brilliance from him throughout the campaign, but consistency has been an issue for the 6-foot-6 shooting guard.

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For his part, it was just a couple of months ago when the Knicks hired Thibodeau as the team's new head coach. This is his second stint with the team, after serving as the team's assistant coach between 1996 and 2003 under Jeff Van Gundy.

Now taking over the helm in New York, one of Thibodeau's biggest challenges is tapping into the potential of his young and promising prospects in the team, including Barrett.