The New York Knicks made a major investment in R.J. Barrett on Monday night. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, New York and Barrett came to terms on a 4-year contract extension worth up to $120 million that will keep him around as an important part of their core for the next few years.
The news came in the midst of the Knicks’ very public pursuit of Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell, while Wojnarowski noted that the team had a deadline of Monday night for the Jazz to come to an agreement on a trade or else Barrett would get extended. It was an interesting note, as there had been rumblings that Utah — which is reportedly prioritizing draft picks — might not want to acquire Barrett because of how soon he’d need to be extended.
But according to Ian Begley of SNY, that is not the case, as Utah apparently “coveted” the former No. 3 overall pick in talks with the Knicks.
Jazz had coveted RJ Barrett in Donovan Mitchell trade talks w/Knicks. Barrett’s extension takes him off the table in those talks for obvious reasons, including ‘poison pill’ provision that makes it very difficult to trade player on rookie extension before extension takes effect.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) August 30, 2022
Barrett, who turned 22 years old back in June, had his most productive season in the NBA last year, as the former Duke star averaged 20 points in 34.5 minutes per game while connecting on 40.8 percent of his field goals. Barrett added 5.8 assists and three assists a night, too.
