Knicks Sign RJ Barrett to Massive 4-Year Contract Extension; Mitchell Trade Hit?

RJ Barrett is staying in New York, but the Knicks’ trade pursuit of Donovan Mitchell may have taken a hit.

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Were you thinking about New York Knicks forward RJ Barrett potentially being included in a trade package for Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell? Well, the Knicks had other plans.

According to a late-Monday night report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Knicks are signing Barrett to a massive rookie contract extension that could potentially have an impact on the Mitchell trade saga.

“New York Knicks guard RJ Barrett is finalizing a four-year rookie extension that could be worth up to $120 million, his agent Bill Duffy of BDA Sports + WME Sports told ESPN, complicating the franchise’s offseason trade pursuit of Utah Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell,” tweeted Wojnarowski.

“New York’s Leon Rose set a Monday night deadline with Utah to reach an agreement on a trade for Mitchell – or the Knicks would commit to the Barrett extension, sources said. Knicks, Jazz closed gap on deal points in recent days on a Mitchell trade, but neither would go further.”

Just five days ago, SNY’s Ian Begley reported that Utah “certainly seeks RJ Barrett in a deal,” but also that the Knicks front office might be split on the idea of parting with Barrett. It appears that the pro-Barrett portion of the front office prevailed.

With Barrett now set to stay in New York for the foreseeable future, effectively taking him out of any Mitchell trade discussions, can the Knicks still get a deal done before the season begins?

Perhaps … but they’ll likely have to give more leeway to Utah GM Danny Ainge now when it comes to how many unprotected picks he wants. The Knicks initially offered two unprotected picks according to reports, and Ainge wants four … and who’s to say he doesn’t want five after this Barrett news?

The odds of landing Mitchell still seem to favor the Knicks, and we’ll see what else might happen in the coming days or weeks. For now, though, we know Barrett is staying put … and that Leon Rose has no problems playing hardball with Ainge.

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You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg

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