Former Knicks lottery pick puts up All-Star numbers with new team

A former New York Knicks lottery pick is off to a bright start to the 2024-25 season with his new team.

The Knicks have made some serious roster reshuffles over the past 12 months, most recently with the addition of Karl-Anthony Towns, whose acquisition required New York to do without Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.

You can't get great value in an NBA trade without giving up value in return, and while the Knicks will sorely miss both Randle and DiVincenzo, Towns' 44 points drew a broad sigh of relief in New York on Wednesday.

Another key acquisition that the Knicks had to pay a pretty penny for was OG Anunoby.

Last December, New York added Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn by dealing Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett and a 2024 second-rounder to the Toronto Raptors.

Anunoby was vital to the Knicks during their 2024 playoff run before getting injured, leading to very few complaints about the trade.

However, it's worth noting that Barrett – who New York selected No. 3 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft – has been absolutely successful with the Raptors earlier this season.

After missing Toronto's first three games due to injury, Barrett has been a hit in the last four games. He has scored over 30 points in each of his last three games, including 31 most recently in an overtime win over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday night.

Barrett finished the game with 31 points, nine rebounds and six assists against the Kings on 10 of 26 from the field. Just 24 hours earlier, Barrett had 33 points (14 of 22 shooting), 12 assists and five rebounds in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The former Duke Blue Devil is averaging 28.8 points, 7.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game in 33.5 minutes per game on 49.4 percent from the field and 46.2 percent from three.

If Barrett comes close to achieving the above numbers this season, he will continue to capture the attention of Knicks fans.

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