RJ Barrett arrived in New York as the third overall pick in the 2019 draft, and he departed late last month after 4 ¹/₂ seasons that saw the Knicks improve from a 17-win team to one that won a playoff round last spring for the first time in a decade.
The Toronto native was traded home to the Raptors along with Immanuel Quickley in the swap that brought OG Anunoby to New York, but he is proud of his time with the Knicks.
“I helped build something in New York,” Barrett told Andscape.com in a story that was published Tuesday. “When I came there we weren’t good. I left it a lot better than when it started. Definitely bittersweet, but I’m happy for those guys over there. They are happy about the trade they made and I wish nothing but the best for them.
“I grew up as a player and a person over there in New York. Those 4½ years, I will never forget.”
Barrett averaged 18.1 points per game in parts of five seasons with the Knicks, but he put up 21.0 per game over his first four appearances with the Raptors.
The rebuilding Blazers entered Tuesday’s game at MSG with a 10-25 record but Tom Thibodeau has liked what he’s seen from rookie point guard Scoot Henderson.
The No. 2 overall pick in the draft came in averaging 14.0 points and 6.2 assists over his previous 10 games.
“Very impressive. You can see he’s starting to get comfortable, probably second time around with some teams, but the last five or six games he’s really played at a high level for them,” Thibodeau said. “He’s young, explosive, and it looks like he’s getting a good feel for it now. He’s really an impressive young player.”
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