Beasley in the Cards?

The Knicks may be in the running for a significant addition. Plus, RJ Barrett checks in at No. 12 on the 25 for 25.

Good morning! Before we get to someone on the 25 for 25 that I know many of you have been waiting for, we got a few reports this weekend (the first from Ian Begley) that the Knicks have kicked the tires on Malik Beasley, who we learned Friday is no longer the target of a federal gambling investigation.

Before that investigation, Beasley was set to sign a three-year, $42 million contract to remain in Detroit, but they no longer have the ability to offer him nearly as much and have stocked their roster with other pieces. Still, several teams (the Pistons included) have the ability to offer Beasley much more than the veteran exception the Knicks are limited to giving, as Keith Smith details here:

Even if Beasley is interested in bypassing a bigger payday and wants to go to a contender where he’d play significant minutes, there’s no guarantee the Knicks can offer him the best situation. Right now New York has nine players with presumed rotation spots, including several starters who are sure to command significant minutes (even if those minutes totals will surely be reduced from last season). For that reason, I’m not getting excited about the possibility of Beasley until such time that it becomes a strong possibility.

That said, if they are able to get him, he’d provide them with something they haven’t had since Donte DiVincenzo was sent to Minnesota, and could help what should already be a great offense rise up to another level. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, let’s talk about an old friend…

25 for 25: No 12 - RJ Barrett

Where to even begin…

I’ve discussed a lot of players since I started writing and podding about the Knicks. Usually, my role at KFS doesn’t change my feelings about those players.

That isn’t always the case though. Of that, there is no clearer example than one Rowan Alexander Barrett Jr.

I’ll never forget the first conversation I ever had about RJ Barrett.

It was on a draft preview pod way back in 2018, when NBA Draft guru Spencer Pearlman came on to give his early thoughts about the class of 2019. This was before Ja Morant exploded as a sophomore for Murray State and went to No. 2 on everyone’s big board, but even then, in describing the gap between RJ and the top overall prospect Zion Williamson, Spencer used the term “ocean-sized chasm.” I got the sense he was being polite.

With that, I was predisposed to think less of Barrett than the consensus opinion of Knicks nation, and he was still nearly a year away from playing his first game as a pro.

Fast forward to lottery night, when I put on a brave face after New York got the third pick. In a strictly mathematical sense we had actually beaten the odds, or so I told myself. On the pod I recorded that night, I noted how there was a gap between the third and fourth picks in this draft, and how getting Barrett over whoever would wind up going fourth should be seen as a win.

In the back of my mind, I knew we’d fallen just short of the sweet spot.

Fast forward again to the next big moment, RJ’s first summer league game, which I attended in person. Before an earthquake rudely interrupted the proceedings, Barrett had gone 4-of-18 from the field, scoring 10 points with one assist. Again, I put on a brave face. It was only one summer league game, after all. Should it really mean anything?

By the end of his rookie season, I lacked both the ability and the desire to keep hiding my true feelings. Amidst the fan uproar over RJ being left off the All-Rookie teams, I stayed silent. Instead, I scoured Basketball Reference for comps of players who had Barrett’s unflattering combo of high volume and low efficiency as rookies, trying like hell to find a diamond in the rough. The more I looked, the more disparaged I became.

I don’t remember the exact moment I was officially “out” on RJ, but one possibility does come to mind.