Sports

NBA insiders still believe in RJ Barrett’s Knicks All-Star potential

Part I of a 15-part series analyzing the present and future of each member of the Knicks’ 15-man roster. Presented in alphabetical order.

The enduring moment of RJ Barrett’s rookie season came outside a Knicks uniform — mid-February in Chicago. It was the final minutes of the Rising Stars Challenge and he had donned the “World” jersey.

The no-defense event had become even more comical in the final minutes — almost resembling a dunk contest. But there was the 6-foot-7 Barrett, powering to the basket relentlessly for no-frills layups. Earlier in the game, Barrett had angered his Duke buddy, Zion Williamson, by wrapping him up so he couldn’t complete an alley-oop dunk.

“Guess it’s an All-Star Game, but I really only know how to play one way,’’ said Barrett, who racked up 27 points, of the exhibition.





As the third pick of the 2019 draft, Barrett’s first season was a mixed bag — if indeed it is over. The NBA suspended the season indefinitely on March 11 and hope the regular season resumes are only growing dimmer.

Barrett is back at his home in Orlando, Fla., waiting and self-isolating. In his final game, he finished off with a terrifically efficient 26-point outing in Atlanta on 14 shots.

Barrett hit a big 3-pointer in overtime in the 136-131 win. Most notably, he was 6 of 6 from the free-throw line — a performance overshadowed by the announcement of the season’s suspension due to the coronavirus.

Despite averaging 14.3 points and 5.2 rebounds, Barrett’s final efficiency numbers will look subpar — 40.2 percent shooting, 32 percent from 3 and 61.4 percent from the free-throw line. But those percentages rose across the last three weeks.





His top attributes — an instinctive knack to use his body to wiggle to the basket, a consistently high motor and a serious-minded work ethic — have several NBA personnel people not giving up on Barrett as a potential All-Star. Not at age 19.

“RJ Barrett is not going to fail,’’ one talent evaluator/former NBA head coach told The Post. “He’s got too much size, too much ability shooting, driving. His perimeter shooting and free-throw shooting — that will get better with time. We all know that. That’s what happens with NBA players.’’

It’s also his intangibles that have the Knicks brass excited about having a bedrock piece moving forward. Knicks general manager Scott Perry, whose own future is in doubt, insisted on the Barrett pick when some colleague wanted to trade down.





“He strikes me as guy not afraid to work and has a great pedigree,’’ the NBA personnel person said. “He’s going to a good player. Is he going to be an All-Star, Hall-of-Fame type player? Probably not. But the potential is there for a couple of All-Star games, like a Khris Middleton.’’

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If the regular season is done, Barrett’s next move could have been playing for Team Canada in the Olympic Qualifier scheduled to be hosted by his country in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 23-28. However, the Canadian Olympic Committee said Sunday night it won’t be sending athletes to the Tokyo Games scheduled for July and August unless they’re postponed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.





Before last June’s draft, Josh Pastner, the Georgia Tech coach, thought Barrett had the tools to be a better pro than Zion Williamson. While that prediction looks off, Pastner said he’s not concerned.

“I think RJ Barrett had a good rookie season to this point,’’ Pastner said. “He will only get better with time. When you have the ability to naturally score like he does, that will only get better. RJ knows how to put the ball in the basket.”

Nobody is doubting Barrett will be diligent in working on his 3-point and free-throw shooting with his longtime trainer, Drew Hanlen.

“You want someone who loves the game and would play for free,’’ the talent evaluator said. “That strikes me as RJ.’’

RJ Barrett

Position: SG

Height: 6-foot-7

Contract Status: Finishing first ($7.8 million) year of four-year $35.8 million rookie contract

Statistics: 14.3 ppg, 2.6 assists. 5.0 rebounds.





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