The Unbreakable Record

It's another "Knick You Knew" from Ray Marcano. Plus, some interesting soundbites about Julius Randle.

Good morning! And to those of you who have children in the NYC Department of Education, congrats on the start of another school year. May all your kids be blessed with a teacher as thorough and demanding as Thomas Joseph Thibodeau Jr. Let’s finish the week strong.

News & Notes

🏀 A couple of notable ESPN podcasts made some eyebrow-raising comments with regard to Julius Randle over the last week.

First, in the Hoops Collective’s “most intriguing players” pod, Brian Windhorst claimed Randle as one of his players to watch this season, in part because he’s such a key figure in New York’s success, but also because he still hasn’t agreed to an extension and has an “eminently tradable” contract according to Windy.

Then on Wednesday’s Lowe Post, Zach mentioned Julius (along with Brandon Ingram) as the sort of player who would be hard to trade in the current environment because so many teams may be looking to bottom out this season and there might not be a ton of interest in a “floor-raiser.” He was very clear to note that New York is not, as far as he knows, trying to trade Randle, although he used the term “stasis¹” to describe the current situation between Julius and the team where his contract is concerned.

(Speaking of that contract, the always wonderful Keith Smith posited on the NBA Front Office podcast that Julius is likely to pick up his ‘25-26 player option because the market next summer figures to be rather unforgiving. Bobby Marks speculated as much to me on the KFS Pod earlier this summer, so at this point, it needs to at least be considered a possibility.)

Zach’s and Windy’s comments would seem to be at odds with one another, but they make clear that the league at large is actively eying the Randle situation and wondering how it will play out. By extension, folks seems to agree that if New York pivots, he will be the player they most likely try to move.

Some may take umbrage with Zach’s floor-raiser verbiage, but it’s hard to be critical when so much ink has been spilt in Knicks land wondering whether a more ideal fit can be had on the roster. Looking around the league, it’s also difficult to find the team that would view Randle as the sort of piece who could elevate them from pretenders to contenders (or maybe more accurately, is willing to inherit what could be a dicy contract situation for the right to find out). My two cents: this is much ado about nothing until further notice, and while Randle’s current bargain contract number may be attractive, easily trading him and easily trading him for what the Knicks would demand in return are two very different things.

At the very least, we know Randle has it in him to raise the floor of a team, because we saw it with the “We Here” Knicks. The question that will define his season, and likely New York’s season as well, is whether he can be a major part of raising the ceiling.

The jury, as usual, is still out.

A Knick You Knew: Ossie Schectman

The next Knick You Knew holds two records that will never be broken.