The Knicks predicament in signing RJ Barret to early

The Knicks announced a four-year, $120 million extension for RJ Barrett, whom they had been offering to Utah as part of their Mitchell package.

According to Steve Berman of the New York Post, some NBA sources say the Knicks were hesitant to sign Barrett.

Apparently, the Knicks didn't believe Barrett was good enough to be their guy, and maybe would have had a shot in packaging him for Donovan Mitchell instead.

That didn't happen, and as things went, the Knicks signed Barrett anyways, a few days later. The news broke out, Mitchell was heading to Cleveland, and chances are the Knicks knew about it days earlier.


The source said, "They had to do something".

There is no clue on who the source is, but this kind of buzz can affect a relationship between management and players.

Source: Brad Botkin | @CBSSports, @RealGM