Julius on the Clock

Will the Knicks take care of one more major bit of business this summer?

Good…morning? Evening? I’m not really sure, because this is the first newsletter I’ve ever sent out at the stroke of midnight. Doing so seemed appropriate given that today, August 3, marks the first day that one Julius Randle can sign a contract extension with New York, and that this is all anyone in Knicks land seems to want to talk about at the moment.

To commemorate the occasion, I thought I’d share some thoughts on the man everyone seems to love arguing about.

Julius on the Clock

As of right this moment, Julius Randle became eligible to sign a four-year, $181.5 million extension that would entail him declining his $30.9 million player option for the 2025-26 season.

His new salary for the ‘25-26 season would be $40.5 million, which would put the Knicks just $13 million under the second apron that season, and that’s just for 10 players, as Fred Katz detailed last week.

Is that too close for comfort? It likely is, and here’s why…