How much is RJ Barrett’s New York Knicks contract extension worth?
RJ Barrett broke the Charlie Ward curse as the Knicks hadn’t previously extended a first-round pick since 1999.
The New York Knicks have secured a young core by extending the contract of small forward RJ Barrett.
According to the report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the Knicks and Barrett agreed to a four-year contract extension that could be worth up to 120 million dollars.
With the extension, Barrett has been ruled out of a possible trade between the Knicks and the Utah Jazz for Donovan Mitchell. The Duke graduate had his best season as a professional in the NBA 21-22 with 20.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists on 40.8 percent shooting from the field.
Barrett joins Doncic, Durant, LeBron and Kobe
Since being drafted with the third overall pick in the 2019 Draft, behind Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, Barrett has appeared in 198 regular season games and averages 17.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists. .
Among the most important milestones in the incipient career of the Knicks number 9 is being one of the five players in league history to accumulate 3,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 triples before turning 22 years old. The other four are Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.
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The Charlie Ward curse is over
With his new contract, the Canadian forward becomes the only first-round draft pick to get a multi-year extension with the Knicks since Charlie Ward. The point guard got a five-year extension at the end of his rookie contract in 1999 and played at Madison Square Garden until 2004.
From Ward to Barrett, the Knicks drafted Walter McCarthy, John Wallace, Dontae' Jones, Frederic Weis, Mike Sweetney, Channing Frye, David Lee, Renaldo Balkman, Mardy Collins, Danilo Gallinari, Jordan Hill, Iman Shumpert, Tim Hardaway, Kristaps Porzingis, Frank Ntilikina, and Kevin Knox.
McCarthy, Wallace, Jones, Sweetney, Frye, Collins, Balkman, Chandler, Gallinari, Hill, Shumpert, Hardaway, Porzingis, Ntilikina and Knox were all traded before their rookie contracts expired. The only one who extended his bond with the Knicks was Lee, but only for a year.
Frenchman Weis never made the jump to the NBA and is mainly remembered for being Vince Carter’s victim in the slam dunk at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.