RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley may not be Julius Randle’s teammates anymore, but that didn’t stop the Knicks star from still supporting the two.
Randle posted a video to his Instagram story on Monday night of him watching Barrett and Quickley’s debut with the Raptors following Saturday’s trade.
The Knicks traded the two youngsters along with a 2024 second-round pick to the Raptors for forward OG Anunoby, forward Precious Achiuwa and guard Malachi Flynn.
Thanks to an afternoon tipoff for the Knicks, Randle had the evening free to watch his former teammates.
In the short video, the Knicks star could be heard saying “yes sir” and “locked in” as the broadcast showed Toronto’s two newest members on the screen.
He captioned the video, “Let’s go lil bros.”
The Raptors won the game 124-121. Barrett has 19 points and nine rebounds to go along with the game-sealing free throws.
Quickley added 14 points and six rebounds.
Barrett, a Canadian, was given a warm welcome on Monday by Raptors fans during pregame introductions.
A loud cheer could be heard from the fans inside Scotiabank Arena.
Barrett was beaming during his first appearance in front of the Toronto media on Monday ahead of his debut and spoke happily about the chance to come back to his hometown to play for the team he rooted for as a kid.
“I’m really happy, really excited to be here,” Barrett said. “I’m thankful, I’m blessed. There’s so many things I want to say, but just sums up to I’m thankful to God for this opportunity. To be traded, but then move somewhere like to come here and come home, it’s a great feeling.”
Barrett and Quickley weren’t the only ones who made their debuts for their new team.
Anunoby made his debut for the Knicks on New Year’s Day as well.
He put up 17 points and pulled down six rebounds in New York’s win over the Timberwolves.
“That was super cool. It was an amazing feeling,” Anunoby told MSG Network about putting on the Knicks uniform for the first time.