Two years removed from leaving money on the table to sign his Knicks extension, Julius Randle said he’s happy with the decision and the direction it helped forge for the front office.
He’s also not relenting on that title dream.
“I’ve always said, I want to win a championship here. Bring a championship here,” Randle said hours before Wednesday’s season opener against the Celtics. “Continue to get better. Continue to stay on that path of building year by year. So it’s good so far.”
Randle, a lightning rod for Knicks fans, is entering his fifth season in New York, representing the longest stint of a career that started as the seventh pick of the 2014 draft.
In the summer of 2021 — immediately following his Second Team All-NBA selection — Randle inked a four-year extension worth as much as $117 million.
He would’ve been eligible for a five-year, $207 million deal by waiting until 2022 free agency but said, at the time, “I feel like (the added financial flexibility) can help us win.”
It’s difficult to quantify how much Randle’s extension assisted the Knicks, if at all.
Arguably, it provided Randle with more money since he would’ve otherwise entered free agency after his terrible 2021-22 season.
Then, during the summer before Randle’s extension kicked in, team president Leon Rose used cap space to sign Jalen Brunson.
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That was obviously a positive maneuver.
Now New York’s cap sheet is in decent shape and Randle, earning about $28 million this season, is underpaid for an All-Star.
According to ESPN, his salary ranks 48th in the NBA – below players like Gordon Hayward, Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons.
Still, as far Randle and his teammates are concerned, there are pitfalls to so much flexibility.
The Knicks, with their glut of future draft picks and tier 2 status in the NBA’s power rankings, will be connected to almost every superstar who may enter the trade market.
Randle has been involved in several trade rumors since signing his contract extension, most recently in a potential swap for Joel Embiid.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Knicks are willing to unload Randle, RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson and three first-round picks for the reigning MVP.
Randle was unconcerned Wednesday.
“We’ve been in every trade rumor since I’ve been here, good or bad,” Randle said. “It’s always a rumor.”
Asked how he learned to deal with it, Randle replied, “Did it come from Leon?”
Not from his mouth.
“Okay, that’s how I deal with it,” Randle said.
Maturity has been a learning process for Randle.
It’s ongoing.
He led the Knicks in technical fouls again last season with 11, and the majority were penalties for arguing with officials.
Randle has claimed he’s officiated differently because of his strength, which the 28-year-old believes provides the refs an excuse to ignore contact against him.
Like last year, Randle’s coming into a season with peace.
“The refs — I’ve always told them, as much as I get on them, as much as I feel like I get fouled and don’t get the calls, they got a hard ass job,” he said. “It’s tough. It’s a job I would never sign up for. So it’s hard, but I take it as it comes.”