The New York Knicks and RJ Barrett will be together for the long haul after reaching an agreement on a contract extension before reaching NBA free agency next summer.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Knicks are finalizing a four-year contract extension worth up to $120 million amid their trade pursuit of Donovan Mitchell.
“New York Knicks guard RJ Barrett is finalizing a four-year rookie extension that could be worth up to $120 million, his agent Bill Duffy of BDA Sports and WME Sports told ESPN on Monday, complicating the franchise’s offseason trade pursuit of Utah Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell.”
With the Knicks reaching an agreement on a contract extension with Barrett, the possibility of a trade for Mitchell is bleak. There was a “golf on reaching a trade,” and the talks were exhausted on Monday night — resulting in the Knicks reaching a conclusion with Barrett.
“While the Jazz-Knicks trade talks intensified and the gap on deal points that included Barrett in the package tightened over the weekend and into Monday, there remained a gulf on reaching a trade for Mitchell, sources said. Once the Knicks and Jazz exhausted discussions Monday night, Rose and Duffy finalized the extension eligible to players out of the 2019 NBA draft class.”
Barrett is coming off a strong season with averages of 20.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in what was his third NBA campaign. At 22 years old, he has a lot of room to maximize his potential as expected after being selected No. 3 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
With Barrett now having a “poison pill” due to his contract extension, the New York Knicks would need to part with significantly more draft capital to reach a trade agreement for Donovan Mitchell.
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