Long-term implications for Knicks after Julius Randle's injury
After a prolonged effort to return, Julius Randle was revealed to need season-ending shoulder surgery. He will be re-evaluated in five months. The three-time All-Star’s absence will have a significant impact as the Knicks gear up for a playoff run without him. But his absence also has ramifications on the franchise’s future.
This season, the Knicks made a bet on the duo of Jalen Brunson and Randle when they dealt away scoring-oriented youngsters RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley for better-fitting role player OG Anunoby. That plan worked immediately as New York went 12-2 after the trade.
In that span, the Knicks had the best defense in the NBA. The offense was running smoothly with Brunson and Randle leading the way while role players such as Anunoby, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart and Isaiah Hartenstein provided the right mix of spacing, passing and rebounding around the two stars.
Randle specifically had found his game after an extremely ice-cold start to the season. The forward averaged 24.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists in his last 14 games before his shoulder injury. His shooting efficiency around the floor had risen back to respectable.
That’s what makes Randle’s injury so difficult for New York. A 14-game sample size in January is too small. This year’s playoff run would’ve given the Knicks a clearer view if that elite stretch was sustainable against playoff-level competition. It also offered a chance to see how the Brunson and Randle pairing can work in high-leverage situations. It would’ve placed a spotlight on if the team can rely on Randle to carry the offense at key moments as well.
In the first playoff series of his career in 2021, Randle shot under 30 percent from the field and was listless as the Atlanta Hawks cruised to a five-game first-round win. Last year, he dealt with an ankle injury and was uneven in New York’s second-round loss to the Miami Heat.
Yesterday’s price is not today’s price
Ideally, Randle’s path to playoff redemption was supposed to happen this year. But now, his injury leaves more questions than answers for how the team will build. This Knicks team will get expensive in the future.
Randle still has two more years left on the four-year, $117 million contract extension he signed with the Knicks in 2021. The final year of the deal is a player option worth $32.4 million, meaning Randle can opt out and be a free agent in the summer of 2025.
Randle is also extension-eligible this offseason. With three All-Star nods and two berths on the All-NBA team in the past four seasons, it’s likely that he will pursue a raise on his contract whether it’s this summer or next year.
Brunson is also eligible for an extension that will likely result in a raise. On SNY’s The Putback with Ian Begley, Newsday writer and columnist Steve Popper said Brunson would potentially be open to a contract extension this upcoming offseason.
Anunoby has a player option for the 2024-25 season worth $19.9 million, but it is likely that he would opt out for a chance at a significant raise. Center Hartenstein is an unrestricted free agent. After a season where he excelled in a starting role and was one of the best defensive centers in the NBA, his $9.2 million salary this season is going up.
The Knicks need more information to understand if they can build a true championship contender with Randle as a featured character. But time is not on their side. They will have to make some difficult decisions without seeing if this team is a true title contender as currently constructed.
