A four-year deal with New York is reportedly close to being signed by the former third overall choice.
According to several sources, RJ Barrett’s contract deal with the New York Knicks is likely to be around nine figures. Barrett’s agent Bill Duffy confirmed the news to The Associated Press on Monday night after it was originally reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Before becoming a restricted free agent, Barrett intended to sign a rookie contract
The third-overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Barrett, planned to sign a rookie agreement before becoming a restricted free agent the following year. Instead, it’s said that he and the Knicks are working on a four-year agreement worth up to $120 million.
The negotiations between the Knicks and Utah Jazz regarding a trade featuring All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell may be impacted if the deal goes through. It would be more costly for the Jazz to pursue Barrett’s inclusion in a hypothetical multi-player deal in the short and long terms if he were to be renewed, raising his contract worth to the average of an extension and a rookie contract.
Barrett’s extension negotiations, according to Wojnarowski, came to a close this weekend as New York and Utah couldn’t close the gap between them.
The Knicks reportedly gave the Jazz until Monday to trade for Mitchell
However, if Barrett formally extends his agreement, the route to a Mitchell-New York trade will become even more challenging since such trades carry poison pills.
Barrett, 22, has increased his scoring over the past two years and is entering his fourth season with the Knicks. He scored an average of 14.3 points in his first season, 17.6 points in 2020–2021, and 20 points in the previous campaign.
Barrett only came off the bench once in his first 198 regular season games throughout the NBA, and he started it all. The final year of his rookie contract, in which he will get around $11 million, will be followed by an extension starting in 2023–2024.
A multi-year contract extension was also signed by Barrett, making him the first Knicks first-round choice since Charlie Ward in 1999 to do so. Due to their 37-45 record, the Knicks failed to qualify for both the Play-In and the playoffs in 2017. A lot of people were shocked by the Knicks’ 41-31 record and a fourth-place finish in the Eastern Conference in 2020–21. However, they ultimately fell to the Atlanta Hawks in the opening round of the playoffs.