RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley adjust going from Knicks to Raptors
While OG Anunoby made his Knicks debut on Monday, the other pieces of the trade – RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley – were getting acquainted in their new city of Toronto ahead of the Raptors' loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
For Barrett, the trade marks a homecoming.
“Really happy, really excited to be here,” Barrett told reporters. “Thankful and blessed. So many things I wanna say, just thankful to God for this opportunity and to be traded and move somewhere to come here and come home. It’s a great feeling.”
Barrett had been linked in recent trade rumors, but hearing the news was still a shock for him.
“Initial reaction was like what’s going on?” Barrett said. “I just woke up to it. Like I said, coming home, immediately I was happy. I grew up a Raptors fan all my life. To come here and put this jersey on, it’s gonna be great.”
Quickley had a similar reaction to being traded, adding that he was actually asleep when he learned the news.
“My agent called me and was like call me right away you’re getting traded,” Quickley told reporters. “Thought it was a dream because I just woke up. But Toronto is a great city. Excited to be here and get started.”
Quickley added that he hopes the new environment will allow him to show more aspects of his game.
“Just showing my creativity as far as creating for my teammates,” he said. “When I was in New York I was scoring a lot, but just being able to show I can make other guys around me better.”
