Miami Heat Pick RJ Barrett As The Future Face Of Knicks Rivalry

Let the countdown begin and no, not towards buyout season or a Miami Heat playoff run. Friday night sparked the official league push to pull the New York Knicks out of Julius Randle’s hands.

Ask Knicks fans and they will tell you this is far from a new concept. Randle’s honeymoon in Gotham had been over way before he gave the crowd the thumbs down.

A dip in minutes and field goal attempts were expected when the team brought in what they thought would be more weapons. However, a combined 1.9 fewer field goal attempts and three-point shots should not translate into four and 10.9 percentage point drops.

It’s clearly frustrating for both Randle and the fans, while only compounded by his decision to alienate the same New York media which helped build him up.

Unfortunately for Randle, his NBA colleagues inadvertently aided the calls to snatch his keys. Starting with RJ Barrett’s 46-point performance versus the Heat and culminating in the reactions reported by SNY’s Ian Bagley:

The Miami Heat beat the Knicks but handed out compliments too. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo see RJ Barrett as the future of the New York Knicks rivalry.

"“We all know he’s capable of that,” Heat star Jimmy Butler said after the game. “I don’t think anybody is surprised or should be surprised."

"He’s definitely going to be playing in this league for a long time and he’s going to be the face of the Knicks.” “You could see it in the body language, you could see it in his face. He wants to be that guy,” Miami’s Bam Adebayo said.“You could see he wants to take his team to another level.”"

By no means did Bam Adebayo mean to purposely slide dirt on Randle’s status as the Knicks alpha. They are both Kentucky Basketball men.

The same can be said for Jimmy Butler, minus the alumni ties. Butler seems to genuinely like Barrett and wants to see him do well though.

This dates back to before the Knicks guard recorded his career-high. Most people will remember their February 9, 2021 game for being a two-point victory for the Miami Heat over their rivals.

But, what was truly memorable was the way Butler stopped in the second quarter to show Barrett that if he would have executed a simple lean into his body, his strip would have been a foul to put New York at the line.

Yes, the ornery, cursing, kiss-blowing Butler was taking the time to teach a young opponent a lesson that could be used against him later in that game. It showed the respect was already there.

So, the quotes should not come as a surprise. Barrett is being handpicked by the fans, media, and his opponents as the player on the Knicks roster to put the orange and blue on his back in wins or a loss.

Only time will tell if the perceived status will add any victories to the Knicks’ end of the rivalry, but all signs point to Randle not being a longtime participant. Not very Chris Bosh-like, at all, but at least Brandon Tierney can Bing-Bong to the disappointment.