Julius Randle Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Julius Randle, Three Pacers Enter COVID-19 Protocols

December 30th, 2021 at 12:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Knicks power forward Julius Randle has entered the health and safety protocols and will miss Friday’s game vs. Oklahoma City, the team announced today (via Twitter). If Randle registered a confirmed positive COVID-19 test, he’ll remain sidelined for at least six days or until he can return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

Randle logged 26 minutes in the Knicks’ win in Detroit on Wednesday night after playing over 37 minutes on Tuesday in Minnesota, so his teammates and recent opponents will likely be monitoring for symptoms of their own in the coming days.

Here are a few more COVID-related updates from around the league:

After placing Jeremy Lamb in the health and safety protocols on Wednesday, the Pacers have had three more players enter the protocols today, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Malcolm Brogdon, Chris Duarte, and Isaiah Jackson are joining Lamb. Indiana had avoided a COVID-19 outbreak so far this month, but it may be catching up to the team now.
Bucks forward Semi Ojeleye has entered the protocols, tweets Wojnarowski. Milwaukee had multiple players in the protocols earlier in the month, but Ojeleye is the team’s lone player affected for now.
Timberwolves forward Jarred Vanderbilt has exited the COVID-19 protocols and should be available on Friday vs. Utah, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). Minnesota is down to just three players in the protocols, though Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell are two of those three.

Eastern Notes: Randle, Middleton, Celtics, Bogdanovic, Bamba

December 13th, 2021 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With the Knicks going through rough times, leadership is essential. However, Julius Randle‘s personality doesn’t lend itself to that role, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Randle, who was signed to a $106MM+ extension, doesn’t fit the mold of a vocal leader and can occasionally be a loner in the locker room, according to Berman.

We have more from the Eastern Conference:

Khris Middleton suffered a hyperextended left knee on Monday but Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer is optimistic the injury isn’t significant, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets. “We’ll know more (Tuesday), but I think there’s some hope that it’s not serious,” he said. “But you’ve got to weigh it and give it time.”
Celtics president Brad Stevens needs to shake up the roster, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer opines. Rather than dealing one of his stars, Stevens needs to improve the supporting cast by moving veterans such as Marcus Smart, Josh Richardson and Al Horford or young players such as Robert Williams and Romeo Langford, according to O’Connor, who adds that shooting and play-making should be the top priorities in any potential deal.
Hawks swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic, sidelined since late November by a right ankle sprain, has progressed to individual on-court workouts, Sarah Spencer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. Bogdanovic underwent an MRI shortly after spraining the ankle and the team at that time said he’d miss at least two weeks of action.
Magic center Mohamed Bamba suffered a right ankle sprain on Sunday, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel reports. It’s unclear how much time Bamba might miss due to the injury, which occurred during the third quarter of the team’s game against the Lakers.

Atlantic Notes: Randle, Knicks Grades, Celtics

December 9th, 2021 at 8:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Julius Randle signed a four-year extension with a base value of $106.4MM, along with numerous incentives, in August. The Knicks’ big man has struggled this season and feels responsible for the team’s disappointing play, Peter Botte of the New York Post writes.

“I have to be better,’’ Randle said. “Everybody has to be better. And I’ll take responsibility from the team. I’ll take responsibility for myself. That doesn’t bother me. At the end of the day, I just want to win. We’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror and decide what we want the season to be. I know what I want it to be. I know what the guys want it to be. But we have to commit to it.”

Randle is averaging 19.8 PPG after posting a career-high 24.1 PPG last season and his field-goal percentages have dropped noticeably.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Randle gets a C grade for the Knicks’ first trimester, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News opines in a report card. Benched point guard Kemba Walker gets an F, while fellow point man Derrick Rose is at the top of Bondy’s class with an A-minus.
The Celtics have a .500 record and their inconsistency has been maddening to players and coach Ime Udoka, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. “I don’t know, you probably don’t know, and that’s why you’re asking me and I don’t know either,” Dennis Schröder said of the team’s inconsistency. “We’ve got to come out and do it for 48 minutes. It can’t happen that we just do it for two or three quarters.” Udoka admitted, “The effort and the inconsistency is frustrating at times.”
Detailing the same topic, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston believes changes might be forthcoming for the Celtics but there’s no clear-cut solution to all of their problems. They do need to make defense a priority after ranking 18th over the last 10 games in the points per possession category.

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Tatum, Fournier, Randle

December 4th, 2021 at 2:45pm CST by JD Shaw

Following Sunday’s loss against the Nuggets, the Knicks are now 11-12, giving them the 11th-best record in the Eastern Conference and putting them 5.5 games behind first place. After finishing last season fourth in the conference, the team’s sudden mediocrity is puzzling, Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post contends.

“We have to understand we have to be more consistent and get guys healthy,” Julius Randle said, clearly not deterred by his team’s underwhelming start to the season. “But we’ll be fine. A great run could put us at the top of the East in two weeks. We just have to have a sense of urgency.”

New York signed Kemba Walker to a two-year, $18MM deal in free agency, but head coach Tom Thibodeau recently pulled him from the rotation. Walker struggled defensively and the starting lineup had noticeable chemistry issues. The team has since started Alec Burks in his place, choosing to keep Derrick Rose in his role off the bench.

Here are some other notes from the Atlantic:

Celtics star Jayson Tatum dismissed the notion that he’s been playing selfish basketball, Jay King of The Athletic writes. A recent ESPN story from Tim Bontemps quoted an anonymous assistant coach who questioned how bad Tatum wants to win. “I laughed,” Tatum said when asked about the topic. “I think when people get upset or you get a reaction out of somebody, it’s probably because they feel like it’s kind of true. But I just laughed because I know it’s not true. I know my teammates, my coaches, anybody I’ve ever been around, selfish is the last thing.”
The Knicks will need energy from Evan Fournier to help turn their season around, Fred Katz of The Athletic writes. Fournier, who signed a multi-year contract to join the team in free agency, has started in all 23 games this season. He’s coming off a campaign where he averaged 17.1 points per game, splitting time between Orlando and Boston.
Speaking of Fournier, Peter Botte of the New York Post examines the recent disagreement between him and Randle that was caught on camera. The Knicks teammates engaged in a heated debate before halftime of the club’s loss to Chicago on Thursday. “It was a disagreement over I think the last defensive play about the double [team] and the rebounding,” Fournier said. “It was just frustration. But I think the key was it was communicating.”

Atlantic Notes: Durant, Walker, Kanter, Riller

November 30th, 2021 at 10:46pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Ahead of the Knicks‘ eventual 112-110 loss to their cross-town rival Nets on Tuesday night, New York All-Star forward Julius Randle praised Brooklyn All-Star forward Kevin Durant, per Peter Botte of the New York Post.

“He’s the best player in the league, for sure,” Randle raved on Monday. “[I’ve] never seen a 7-footer that skilled… [He can] do anything, everything, on the court. No weakness. That’s him. He’s tough. Great player, but I love competing against him.”

In an MVP-level season for the Nets, Durant is averaging 28.6 PPG, 7.5 RPG, and 5.6 APG in 35.8 MPG, with a shooting line of .539/.389/.863.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

The demotion of Kemba Walker from starting Knicks point guard to a DNP-CD serves as clear evidence of head coach Tom Thibodeau‘s zeal to win, per Ian O’Connor of the New York Post. Though the move for the 31-year-old hometown hero may not be a popular one, Thibodeau knows it will help the club’s defense significantly. “I just don’t like the way we’ve been trending, the inconsistency of our team,” Thibodeau said. “I want to get bigger. I want our defense to get bigger at the point of the attack.” The six-foot Walker, never a good defender, has seen his efficacy on both sides of the ball decline following knee injuries while with the Celtics. Fred Katz of The Athletic notes that the disparity in points per possession when Walker plays as opposed to when he sits represents the difference between what would be the best defensive efficiency in the NBA (when he sits) and what would be the worst (when he plays).
Upon becoming a US citizen on Monday, Celtics reserve center Enes Kanter has officially changed his name to Enes Kanter Freedom, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter link). “It was really important to me” to acknowledge the freedom that the Turkish native gets to enjoy as an American citizen, the freshly-anointed Kanter Freedom said.
Sixers two-way player Grant Riller injured his right shoulder during a contest for Philadelphia’s NBA G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, this past Sunday, tweets Derek Bodner of The Athletic. Bodner adds that Riller’s health status will be reassessed in a week. The No. 56 pick in 2020 out of the College of Charleston, Riller has yet to appear in a game for the Sixers this season. The 6’2″ point guard is averaging 5.5 PPG, 2.3 APG and 1.5 RPG across four games for Delaware.

Knicks Notes: Burks, Walker, Dinwiddie, Randle

November 28th, 2021 at 10:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Playing with a depleted roster, the Knicks got a huge lift from Alec Burks in Saturday’s win over Atlanta, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Making his first start of the season, the veteran swingman delivered 23 points as New York ended the Hawks’ seven-game winning streak.

Burks was called into service at point guard with Derrick Rose injured and Kemba Walker resting on the second night of a back-to-back. It was the latest in a series of strong performances for Burks, and Berman suggests that he may become a regular part of the starting lineup.

“We’re a great team and we have a lot of depth, so I believe I can step up at any time,’’ Burks said. “It was just my night tonight. … It’s the way we play. Anyone can handle the ball at any time. That’s (coach Tom Thibodeau’s) offense.’’

There’s more from New York:

Walker remains the Knicks’ starter at point guard, but he has rarely been playing in the fourth quarter, Berman notes in a separate story. Walker’s arthritic left knee is limiting him to 24.5 minutes per night, and Thibodeau is turning to Rose to finish games. As a result, Walker is averaging a career-low 11.7 points per game and the team is routinely getting outscored when he is on the court.
Some members of the organization wanted to make a play for Spencer Dinwiddie in free agency, Berman adds, but the team opted to sign Evan Fournier, then reached an agreement with Walker after his buyout with the Thunder. “They had to make a splash,’’ an unidentified team executive told Berman about the decision to add Walker, a New York City native.
The Knicks won’t be able to make a serious playoff run without a greater contribution from Julius Randle, states Ian O’Connor of The New York Post. Randle earned Most Improved Player honors last year while leading New York to the fourth seed, but he hasn’t been the same player since the postseason. He shot just 3-of-14 Saturday night, and his scoring and shooting percentages have declined significantly.

Atlantic Notes: Simmons, Knicks Chemistry, Thibodeau, Tatum

November 14th, 2021 at 9:06pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Should disgruntled Sixers point guard Ben Simmons rejoin his Philadelphia teammates without the proper attitude, the feel-good vibes of the team’s 8-6 season start could take a hit, opines Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Simmons has yet to suit up this season, hoping for a trade out of town.

“I don’t think that’s something we thought about yet,” swingman Danny Green said of a potential Simmons-Sixers reunion this year. “We don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon. But it’s something that hasn’t really crossed our minds yet.”

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

With the Knicks set to play their next three contests at Madison Square Garden, Tommy Beer of Basketball News writes that they have an opportunity to improve the shaky chemistry that has led to the club going 2-4 in its last six games. Starters Julius Randle and RJ Barrett have struggled lately. Beer adds that playing at home will allow for head coach Tom Thibodeau to hold more practices than are possible on the road, which could help the Knicks kick-start their energy.
To help improve the on-court performance of the Knicks‘ starting five, head coach Tom Thibodeau opted to give his starters stricter set plays and less improvisational optionality in a productive practice today, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. “The first thing you ask [is] are we playing hard enough and executing properly?” Thibodeau said. “If what we’re doing is not good enough, that’s when you change… In all fairness to Julius [Randle] and [starting point guard Kemba Walker], because of who they are, they probably get the brunt of what’s going on. The reality is we have to play well together as a group. It’s not one, two guys. We can say new guys, old guys. We can say first unit, second unit.”
Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum is struggling through one of his worst-ever shooting stretches, prompting Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe to consider the possible cause of the issue and potential solutions. Tatum currently has a career-worst shooting line of .388/.322/.742.

Knicks Notes: Barrett, Fournier, Randle, Walker

November 13th, 2021 at 5:15pm CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau lost patience with his starting lineup Wednesday and with the theory that they need more time together to be effective. RJ Barrett, one of the holdovers from last season, agrees that the starters haven’t played well enough but believes the problems will eventually work themselves out, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post.

“Everything takes time — any new team,’’ Barrett said. “No one’s going to have it right away off the bat. It takes time. We’re trying to figure out who we are if we’re going to be consistent. I think this whole team. Even though we were together last year, the guys that were here, we’re still learning each other, so we’re gonna keep growing, improving.’’

New York is 7-6, but all five starters are posting negative plus-minus ratings. Evan Fournier, who was added in free agency over the summer, believes the offense has gotten “very stagnant” when the starting lineup is on the court together.

“We started really well, shooting the ball well, sharing the ball, et cetera,” he said. “Now it’s not as good. So are we playing not as well because we are missing shots or are we missing shots because we aren’t sharing the ball.’’

There’s more from New York:

The Knicks aren’t getting their money’s worth from Fournier so far, Berman states in a separate story. They signed him for $78MM over four years, but Thibodeau appears to have lost confidence in him late in games. Berman points out that Fournier has been benched for the final 14 minutes of the last two contests, both losses, and he isn’t providing the clutch shots or hustle on defense that the team needs.
Another issue is a lack of chemistry between new point guard Kemba Walker and Julius Randle, Berman adds. Both players are used to controlling the ball, and a scout tells Berman that Randle “pouts” when he feels he doesn’t have it enough. Berman notes that Randle, who had five turnovers in Friday’s loss to the Hornets, is starting to revert to iso-ball habits. “I definitely think there’s games where we’re being outworked, outrebounded,’’ Randle said. “Our identity’s not our defensive end (like) how it has been. But we know that. We know we got to fix it. We just got to keep working at it, just keep coming together and stay together.’’
Sopan Deb of The New York Times examines what has gone wrong with the Knicks’ defense, which was the core of the team’s identity last season.

Knicks’ Thibodeau On Starters’ Struggles: “We’ve Gotta Figure It Out”

November 11th, 2021 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau benched his starters for the final 14 minutes of the team’s loss to the Bucks on Wednesday, as ESPN’s Tim Bontemps writes. After the game, Thibodeau said the five-man group – Kemba Walker, Evan Fournier, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson – “just didn’t play well,” adding that “we’ve gotta figure it out.”

The Knicks’ starters were especially ineffective on Wednesday — Robinson was minus-15 during his minutes, while the other four starters were minus-22 or worse.

However, their struggles weren’t just a a one-game aberration. The Knicks’ starting five, which has been the most-used lineup in the NBA this season, has an abysmal -14.4 net rating (including a 119.3 defensive rating) in 205 total minutes. That’s the second-worst net rating of any NBA lineup that has logged more than 80 minutes so far in 2021/22.

Thibodeau isn’t buying that the group just needs more time to develop chemistry, according to Bontemps.

“You know what they say: When it’s 10 games, they say you need 20,” Thibodeau said. “When you say 20, they say you need 30; at 30, you say 40. And before you know it, the season is over. So that’s a bunch of bulls–t.”

The Knicks’ bench, led by Derrick Rose, Alec Burks, Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin, and Taj Gibson, has been productive this season and has been a key factor in the team’s 7-5 start. It’s possible moving one of those players into the starting lineup could help jump-start that group and shore up the defense, but Thibodeau may prefer not to make such a move when the reserves are playing so well in their current roles.

New York Notes: Randle, Knicks, Noel, Claxton, Nets

November 5th, 2021 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks will be looking to pick up a win in Milwaukee on Friday night, but Julius Randle views the Bucks as a success story worth emulating, as Fred Katz of The Athletic details. Milwaukee won a title in Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s eighth season, having patiently built a championship-caliber roster around its star player without making any major splashes on the free agent market.

“It was beautiful to watch simply because the aspect of, they built it from the ground up,” Randle said. “They didn’t put a super team together or whatever it was. These guys were in the mud every day grinding the thing out. They took some lumps along the way there trying to figure it out.”

While the Knicks lack a bona fide superstar on the level of Antetokounmpo, Randle likes the idea of building the roster “organically” and believes that it an eventual breakthrough would be more rewarding.

“(The Bucks) did something that’s very unique, especially in today’s league, as far as building something like that and not putting a bunch of players together,” he said. “They really built it.”

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:

Responding to news that Owen Phillips is joining the Knicks‘ coaching analytics team, Seth Partnow of The Athletic notes (via Twitter) that the franchise has gone from one of the league’s smallest analytics departments to one of the largest under president of basketball operations Leon Rose.
Knicks center Nerlens Noel missed the first six games of the season with what was termed “knee soreness,” but he told reporters today that it was more of a hamstring issue, per Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News.
The Nets have assigned Nicolas Claxton to the G League as he works his way back from an illness. According to Brian Lewis of The New York Post (Twitter link), Claxton still isn’t ready to play and will just be training and ramping up during his time with Long Island.
While Claxton probably won’t play in any games for Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, a handful of the team’s rookies are expected to be regulars for the Long Island Nets this season. Chris Milholen of NetsDaily takes a closer look at the Nets‘ developmental plans for Cameron Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe, Kessler Edwards, and David Duke.