RJ Barrett Defends Knicks amid Calls for Star Trade: 'We Do Very Well for Ourselves'

Coming off back-to-back losses against arguably the two best teams in the Eastern Conference this week, pressure is starting to mount for the New York Knicks to add a star player who can get them to that level.

Speaking to reporters after Friday's 133-123 loss to the Boston Celtics, RJ Barrett pushed back on the perception the Knicks need to do something drastic.

"First, we were never going to be good. Now, we're good, and now, we're not good enough," he said. "I think we do, for not having the best player, we do very well for ourselves."

This has been a rough week for the Knicks, particularly on defense where they have been one of the best units in the NBA all season. They allowed 146 points to the Milwaukee Bucks, who shot 23-of-38 from three-point range, on Tuesday in the in-season tournament quarterfinals.

Milwaukee's scoring-hot shooting night completely overshadowed Julius Randle's 41-point effort in which he shot 14-of-19 from the field.

The Celtics lit up New York's defense on Friday night with 133 points. Boston shot 52.7 percent overall and went 19-of-47 from behind the arc. Derrick White, Kristaps Porziņģis and Jayson Tatum all scored at least 21 points.

Milwaukee and Boston have put up the two highest point totals of the season against the Knicks. Prior to this week, no team had scored more than 120 points on this defense since the final game of the 2022-23 regular season.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported this week on FanDuel TV's Run it Back that the Knicks "are monitoring the marketplace" because they want "to see if there's a star player that's available" they can make an all-in move for.

There doesn't seem to be anyone of that caliber available via trade at this point. Zach LaVine is the biggest name who has been mentioned, but he's never been a player who raises the ceiling of any team that he's on.

Even though the Knicks don't look like an NBA Finals contender right now, their best approach is one of patience where the front office waits until the summer to see if any stars become unhappy with their current situation.

The Knicks are good enough to be a playoff team again this season. They could win a postseason series with the right first-round matchup like they did last season against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

That may not be enough for New York fans, but it would be the first time the Knicks have made the playoffs in consecutive seasons since doing it three straight times from 2011 to '13.