RJ Barrett is only 23 years old. Two years removed from legally buying his first drink. Two years removed from being able to gamble at a casino. Two years removed from being eligible to work for Uber as a driver. Yet somehow he’s entering his fifth NBA season. He’s an NBA veteran, albeit a young one. He hasn’t yet hit his prime. He thinks he’s still got three more years — “26, or 27” — before he reaches the beginning of his peak. That’s music to the ears of anyone who’ll listen. The Knicks’ starting forward has made strides every season, but now he’s primed to take another leap. He shot the 3-ball at a 38% clip in the Knicks’ second-round playoff series against the Miami Heat — then led Team Canada to a bronze-medal FIBA World Cup finish, taking down his teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart on Team USA to seal the deal. Now he wants to build on that momentum. “I got a long way to go,” Barrett said at the McAlister Field House on Day 2 of Knicks training camp on The Citadel’s campus on Wednesday. “You just work hard everyday and you get better over time and it’ll show.” But what does the next step look like? Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau only speaks in generalities. Ask him about a specific player’s room for improvement, he’ll talk about the entire team. He gave the same answer when asked about Barrett’s next step on Wednesday as he did when asked a similar question about Quentin Grimes on Monday. “It’s not just RJ. It’s everybody. To me you’re never a finished product so keep getting better. Keep growing. Keep learning,” he said. “What are you learning from all your experiences? Keep getting better. And also not just individually but collectively as a group. How do you make the team function well? And that’s the most important thing.” Thibodeau says the most important stat is a player’s net rating: how many points they’re scoring measured against the number of points they’ve given up. To Thibs, that’s “true value.” From there, it’s the little things. The little things are what Barrett wants to take from a successful World Cup run. He averaged 16.8 points per game — Team Canada’s second-leading scorer behind Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “I think I learned the game a little bit more. It’s crazy physical. Refs don’t care. It’s a lot different over there,” he said. “But it was fun. I really kind of just did the same thing, my same thing, played the same game. I feel like I’m a guy — whether it’s the league or it’s FIBA, I kind of do the same stuff.” “Making the right play. Learning how to cut, move better. Be more effective in every way,” he added when asked what will translate back to this season with the Knicks. Barrett also said he wasn’t encouraged by his playoff performances. He believes in himself and knows he can play at a high level. For him, it’s about consistency. Putting in the work each and every day. Not shortcutting the process, because shortcuts reveal themselves when the ball is tipped-off. Barrett averaged 17.4 points through five games in the first round against the Cleveland Cavaliers, then 20.8 points in the second round against the Heat. In his previous playoff stint — the 2021 first-round loss to the Atlanta Hawks — he only averaged 14.4 points and shot the 3 at a poor 28% clip. What changed? Why did things swing? “Just picking my spots with having played the whole season with the team,” he explained. “And everybody learned each other and we kind of clicked at the right time. So I think that’s what it was — knowing how to be effective in the offense.” The Knicks hope things continue to swing. The NBA is a wing’s league, and Barrett is the best option the team has at the position. Plus, he’s not yet in his prime. He’s only 23. Just barely old enough to buy a drink — but experienced enough to help his team win ball games. “Year 5, I’m excited about the team we have,” he said. “To have all the guys returning that we do, it helps us earlier. Having known a lot of stuff from last year going in. So I think that helps. Same coach. So just a lot of good things for us. This is a hardworking group so that’s what I’m excited about. I know everyday I’m coming with guys who are going to come in and get better.
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