Getty RJ Barrett has a message.
The start of another New York Knicks season is just over the horizon, and many players are addressing the media for the first time since the end of the season.
There was a lot of excitement this past summer for the Knicks, and while they weren’t able to acquire Donovan Mitchell in a trade, they did manage to sign Jalen Bruson to man the point guard position.
While they didn’t get the star guard, they were able to hang onto names like Quentin Grimes, RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley, and they were also able to keep their first round picks for the future.
These can be used to continue building through the draft, or they could decide to bundle them all for another trade.
Whatever the case may be, the Knicks do appear solid for the foreseeable future. So much so, in fact, that RJ Barrett sent a message to fans and opposing teams alike in his media day comments.
RJ Barrett Sounds Off
RJ Barrett says Knicks are going to “shock the world” this season. Says being an All-Star is a goal just like it was previous seasons
Barrett set his goal for the season as making an All-Star team, which is really the next step in his evolution building off his continued improvement year in and year out.
While that’s an expected goal of his, what he says with it is what’s going to raise some eyebrows. According to New York Daily News reporter Stefan Bondy, Barrett said the Knicks are going to “shock the world” this season.
Obviously, there are a number of ways they can do that, and fans would like to see them do it by making the playoffs.
Another way it could happen, and a way that fans wouldn’t want to see, is the team just bottoming out and performing even worse than they did last season. That’s not likely to happen with Jalen Brunson now on the roster and the team being healthier than they were last season, but anything’s possible.
Barrett and Mitchell Robinson both signed contract extensions, so those distractions are now gone, and the two of them can go out there and play ball.
Changes Are Needed
Lefties 📸
Barrett making an All-Star level leap is something that will have a huge effect on how the team performs next season.
Brunson will be a big part of the upcoming season with him taking the reigns at point guard, and it will be very interesting to see how everybody meshes together.
Julius Randle recapturing his All-Star from two seasons ago would be a huge thing for the team, but there’s no guarantee that’ll be possible. With the ball in Brunson’s hands more often this season, perhaps it’ll become more likely, but only time will tell on that end.
As it stands, the Eastern Conference is very deep and continues to get better, so even if the Knicks make a leap this season, there are many teams they’ll have to leapfrog.
The Bucks, Nets, Cavs, Celtics, Heat and Bulls all appear to be locks for the playoffs, so the Knicks might find themselves with a ceiling of being a play-in team.