NBA: 10 most disappointing players at the quarter-mark of the season

9. RJ Barrett – New York Knicks

I am soooooo glad I’m not a Knicks fan.

I swear the basketball Gods cursed New York, their team is literally just a meme at this point. The Knicks will have several terrible seasons, the MSG crowds will boo a lot, something good will finally happen, and then everything collapses.

RJ Barrett is a good example of this.

Last year in his 2nd season in the NBA, Barrett really impressed. He averaged 17.6 PPG and 5.8 RPG on 44.1 FG% and 40.1 3P%. He really looked like he was developing into a star player and I predicted that he could well be an All-Star this season had he continued to grow.

Sadly he’s regressed somewhat this year which is a real shame. On the season he’s averaging 14.6 PPG on 39.4 FG% and only 32.1 3P%. Shooting is such an important aspect of a team’s attack in today’s NBA. Without it, defenses just collapse into the paint, meaning it’s much harder to get easy points at the rim.

This current struggle by Barrett will be especially disheartening as he is due to sign his rookie contract extension this summer. A good 3rd season would definitely have secured him a max-deal, now that is looking less than likely.

Luckily there’s still a lot of the season left to play, so Barrett has time to turn things around. The city of New York could really do with Barrett developing into an All-Star.