Historically, the New York Knicks have been under a massive microscope, with both the fans and media holding high hopes for the team playing in Madison Square Garden. While the Knicks are now top contenders in the East, led by Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, former star Julius Randle played a big role in helping the team reach the heights they are at today.
Speaking in an interview with The Athletic, Randle opened up about the preseason trade that sent him and Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Towns. After having some success in New York, Randle said he was at a low point in his life and thought a trade was coming, but the timing of the move caught him off guard.
“When I got traded, I’m like [expletive], I can’t believe this got taken from me,” Randle said. “It’s like, you worked so hard to build something, and it was just snatched away.”
Randle averaged 22.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in his 330 games for the Knicks, with two playoff series wins. His numbers dropped slightly in his first year with Minnesota, but both teams reached their respective conference Finals last year, in what has ended up being a positive trade for both sides.
Randle On The Knicks And Being Traded
After an up-and-down start to his career, Randle saw his first All-Star nod while playing with the Knicks and was named the Most Improved Player during the 2020-21 season.
He helped New York bounce back from one of their worst records of the decade into a playoff team, in the process putting up the highest numbers of his career. But as he said, regardless of his success, the pressure in New York doesn’t compare to that in other NBA locales.
“You know how New York is, man. You’re under a different microscope,” he said. “So it’s like, you’re not just battling and trying to win. It seems like you’re battling a million different things.”
Randle was injured for much of the 2023-24 season, playing just 46 regular-season games and seeing his starting role taken over by other rotational players. According to The Athletic, Randle was in a ‘dark place‘ during his season with the Knicks, and it was starting to impact his personal life.
“At the end of that time, I was kind of at my darkest moment,” Randle said. “Just miserable, like in a way where I just was not having fun going to work every single day.”
In a contract year, the forward expected to be moved around the 2025 trade deadline, but the swap for Towns came right before the start of the season. While he initially had mixed feelings about leaving the team, the 30-year-old had reflected positively on his time in the city.
“New York was an amazing time. It was a great place. I loved it,” Randle added. “But it also comes with a lot, too, man. It comes with a lot of different things. And it’s a lot to navigate.”
Now In Minnesota On A West Contender
Randle said while he was initially shocked, the move to Minnesota has been positive in his life.
“Once I got here, I was like it was a breath of fresh air,” Randle said. “I’ve been loving it ever since, even when things weren’t going as good.”
“I was surrounded by great people, and that’s what made it easy. Like, all right, we can work through this, you know? Because everybody was just so supportive from top to bottom.”
In his first season with the Timberwolves, Randle’s numbers dropped slightly playing alongside Anthony Edwards, but he held a bigger role on the team compared to the one he held in his last Knicks season. He missed a few games during the middle of the season, but bounced back for what was one of the best stretches of his career.
Minnesota made the conference finals for the second year in a row, even with the massive roster shakeup of swapping Towns for Randle. While they did end up losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the forward had the best playoff numbers of his career, enough to earn himself a new deal.
“It was to the point where it was like, all right man, I just want to be here, so how are we going to make this work?” Randle said about his contract talks with the front office. “Let’s make it work, and can we do something fair on both sides?”
Randle signed a three-year, $100 million deal with the Timberwolves over the summer, keeping him locked down until the end of the 2027-28 season.
The trade between the Knicks and Timberwolves has worked out well for both teams. Each made the conference finals, and each has its strongest title-contending rosters in years.
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