So far, RJ Barrett’s trade to Toronto has worked out well. Since the trade, Barrett has averaged 21 ppg, up from 17.6 with the New York Knicks. His shooting is up to 53.8 percent from 41.6 percent with the Knicks in December.
Against Golden State on Sunday he scored 37, shooting 13-20 overall and 5-8 from behind the line. And on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Lakers, Barrett shot 10-13 overall and 1-3 for threes. He also grabbed 10 boards.
Former Blue Devil Gary Trent came off the bench for 14 points. Barrett’s former Duke teammate Cam Reddish had 13 in the Lakers 132-131 win.
Barrett seems to have adjusted to his new team and after a bit of time, he has some comments about his old team, saying this: “I helped build something in New York. 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.
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 Quickly 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.
Barrett scored 23 points and 10 rebounds in the Raptors’ 132-131 loss to the Lakers on Tuesday night.
The rebuilding Trail Blazers are 10-26 after their 112-84 loss to the Knicks at MSG, but Tom Thibodeau said he has liked what he’s seen from rookie point guard Scoot Henderson.
The No. 3 overall pick in the draft came in averaging 14.0 points and 6.2 assists over his previous 10 games.
He finished with eight points, four assists and a steal in 25 minutes.
“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 before the game. “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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