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Julius Randle is committing to the New York Knicks for the long haul. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Randle and the Knicks have agreed to a four-year, $117 million contract extension.
That extension is added onto the end of the three-year, $63 million contract he signed with the Knicks before the 2019-2020 season started. He’s now committed to the Knicks through the 2025-2026 season.
Randle could have waited longer to sign this extension, which would have made him eligible for more money. But he reportedly wasn’t thinking about just himself — his decision was about the entire organization. From Woj:
Randle could’ve waited for his contract to expire next season and signed a new $200 million deal, but extending now off his current $19.8 million salary for 2021-22 gives the Knicks financial flexibility to shape the roster and allows him to commit through his prime to a franchise and city he has come to adore — and one that has come to adore him.
Randle played a major role in helping the Knicks revitalize. They were an NBA joke with a 21-45 record in the 2019-2020 season. But a breakthrough season from Randle in the 2020-2021 season helped the team pull itself up into not just relevance, but contention. They finished with a 41-31 record and made the playoffs for the first time since 2013, seeded fourth in the Eastern Conference. They were eliminated in the first round, but it was a positive sign after years of stagnation.
The 26-year-old Randle posted career highs in points per game (24), rebounds (10), and assists (6), and also played more minutes on average than at any point in his career. His heroics for the Knicks earned him the Most Improved Player award as well as second-team All-NBA honors.
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