Julius Randle was the Knicks’ scoring and rebounding leader in 2020-21.
The New York Knicks continued their busy offseason on Thursday by making sure their resident All-Star stays put. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Knicks and Randle have agreed to a four-year, $117 million extension.
https://t.co/RsWLSV8iLl pic.twitter.com/O8FBNLG0sJ
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 5, 2021
Last season was a banner one for Randle on several fronts. He was a first-time All-Star, averaged career highs in points (24.1), rebounds (10.2), assists (6.0) while shooting 45.6% overall and a career-best 41.1% on 3-pointers.
Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Oscar Robertson, Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokic (who also did it this season) are the only other players to have a 24-10-6 season.
Randle emerged as an All-Star and was the runaway winner of the Kia Most Improved Player award. Randle received 98 first-place votes from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. He earned 493 points in the voting to finish well ahead of Detroit’s Jerami Grant, who earned the other two first-place votes and had 140 points. Michael Porter Jr. of Denver was third with 138 points.
The rest of the Knicks quickly took to coach Tom Thibodeau’s defensive schemes and overachieved their way to a 41-31 record and the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. However, the Knicks suffered a disappointing first-round loss to the Atlanta Hawks and Randle had a rough series. After his standout season, Randle’s averages were solid (18.0 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 4.0 apg), but his shooting woes were what did he and the Knicks in (29.8% overall, 33.3% on 3-pointers).
From @IanBegley on Julius Randle's extension:
"League sources told SNY that Randle loves the Knicks, loves the fans, and was ready to commit his prime to the team – wanting to commit early to give the organization as much flexibility as possible." https://t.co/RJTO4pmIdI pic.twitter.com/1bGUbW0Dcp
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 5, 2021
The extension for Randle comes a day after reports surfaced that the Knicks are expected to sign former All-Star guard Kemba Walker once he clears waivers. Aside from that, the Knicks also reached reported deals with several of their own key free agents in Derrick Rose, Nerlens Noel, Taj Gibson, Reggie Bullock and Alec Burks.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
