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The New York Knicks opted to shell out a contract extension to their rising star wing, RJ Barrett, this offseason. The deal locks the 22-year-old in with the organization through 2027, earning a potential total of $120 million along the way.
Barrett is one of several rising stars who landed extensions with their respective clubs this summer, with the list including the likes of Darius Garland, Ja Morant, and former Duke teammate Zion Williamson.
Seemingly right around the corner, awaiting his opportunity to put pen to paper on the dotted line of a new deal is Miami Heat sixth-man extraordinaire, Tyler Herro.
Coming off of the best season of his four-year career, the guard recently discussed his contract situation with Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and, in a rather subliminal way, threw a bit of shade at some of the individuals who have already received extensions.
“’I was active early in the summer,’ he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel of the extension window that opened in July. ‘Then I realized it wasn’t going to get done, if it does get done, until later. So I just told my agent to call me when it’s ready. ‘So we haven’t really spoken much about the contract. Obviously, I tell him to call me when it’s ready. If it’s not ready, I continue to play my game and figure it out next summer…
‘There’s players across the league that have gotten paid who I know I’m better than. So it’s got to be the right number,’ he said, with the Heat continuing camp on makeshift courts at the [Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas].”
Herro saw career-highs all across the board in 2021-22, putting up per-game averages of 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 4.0 rebounds on 44.7% shooting from the floor and 39.9% shooting from deep.
With his production, the 22-year-old earned the league’s Sixth Man of the Year Reward.
Barrett Gunning for All-Star Game
Though Herro may believe that he is a better player than those who have already received contract extensions, Knicks wing RJ Barrett certainly earned his lofty new deal.
With every passing season since being selected third overall back in the 2019 NBA Draft, Barrett has managed to up his numbers in numerous statistical categories, and, in 2021-22, he posted a career-high 20.0 points per game to go along with 5.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
Now, as he enters his fourth year in the association, the 22-year-old is anticipating yet another jump in his game, and even stated in an interview with KnicksFanTV posted on September 20, that he’s looking to be in the conversation for the 2023 All-Star game.
“I’m ready to get in the conversation. I’m ready to showcase what I can do,” Barrett said. “Every year I’ve been getting better, so there’s no better time than now.”
Barrett would later go into depth about what kind of advancements he’s made in his game this offseason.
“I’ve really been working on, just, stuff off the dribble, moves off the dribble, you know, being able to make shots off the dribble. And my finishing, you know, I think those two areas, being able to clean those up will help me and the team out along the way,” Barrett said.
Fournier ‘Front-Runner’ For Starting Gig for Knicks
During media day on September 27, head coach Tom Thibodeau discussed the starting shooting guard position with the media, and, when asked point blank whether Evan Fournier was the “front-runner” to land the role, the head coach had a one-word answer — “yup.”
“The thing is we need shooting,” Thibs said. “The one thing that I know is that with Jalen [Brunson], RJ [Barrett], [and] with Julius [Randle] we have to put shooting around them. Right? [Mitchell Robinson] will give us pressure on the rim, so that’s what will force a defense to collapse.
“Evan’s proven. I thought the second half of last year he played really well, so I think we have good depth at that position.”
Coming off of his first season in New York, Fournier started 80 contests at the two-guard position for the Knicks where he posted per-game averages of 14.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists on 38.9% shooting from distance.
The 29-year-old ended the year by setting the franchise’s single-season record for most three-pointers made with 241 and finished fourth in the association in the category.
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