Julius Randle Opens Up About Knicks Trade
As almost every single fan is aware of, the New York Knicks pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire star center Karl-Anthony Towns. In that trade, the Knicks shipped out forward Julius Randle and guard Donte DiVincenzo.
Randle had been with the team since the 2019-20 season. He was a key part of helping build New York back to being a serious contender in the Eastern Conference.
Unfortunately, Randle's situation with the Knicks deteriorated a bit over the last couple of years. Moving on from him was expected, although this trade itself came out of nowhere.
Now that he has been moved to the Timberwolves, Randle spoke out about his new situation.
As shared by Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Randle seems to be very happy with his new team.
"You want to be somewhere where you feel wanted. I feel wanted here and everybody has embraced me. Tim has been great. I played for Finch. I really believe in Finch. Ultimately, yeah, I do want to be here," Randle said.
While he may have moved on from a serious Eastern Conference contender, he joined an NBA Finals contender with Minnesota.
During the 2023-24 NBA season in 46 games with New York, Randle ended up averaging 24.0 points per game to go along with 9.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists. He shot 47.2 percent from the floor and 31.1 percent from the three-point line.
The 29-year-old forward offers a new skill-set for the Timberwolves and a potentially better fit alongside Rudy Gobert than Towns was last season.
Randle will be asked to be a huge part of Minnesota's goal of making a championship run. He will need to score consistently and take pressure off of rising superstar Anthony Edwards. It sure sounds like he's embracing everything about the Timberwolves already.
He might not be a member of the Knicks anymore, but hopefully he finds success in Minnesota. As long as he doesn't play well when he faces New York, it would be good to see him put together a strong season.
Things seem to be off to a great start for him.