This past Friday, the New York Knicks announced that they have officially signed all-star power forward Julius Randle to a contract extension. Earlier this month, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the four-year deal was set to be worth up to $117 million.
Randle recently told ESPN that signing the contract extension was about more than just money. He wanted to “lock in something long term” and continue to help build the franchise.
“The money was one thing, but for me, it was more about the situation as far as my happiness, the basketball situation, my family, just being stable and being in New York and really just continuing to build this thing up,” Randle said Friday. “When I signed here two years ago, this was my vision, to be able to lock in something long term and build something from the ground up. That’s what we’re doing. All hands on deck.”
Randle is coming off one of the best seasons in his career thus far, averaging a career-high of 24.1 points per game, to go along with 10.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists. The NBA All-Star helped lead the Knicks to their first playoff berth since 2013 and was named the 2021 NBA Most Improved Player of the Year.
His love for New York runs deep, and back in May, he said on the Victory Podcast that he wanted to “retire” as a Knick (per CBS Sports).
“And for me, I truly enjoy showing up to my job every day, whether it was practice, whether it was flying, whether it was playing a game, whatever it was. I truly enjoy it, and I’m happy being a Knick…I don’t think there’s a better place to win a championship than here,” Randle also told ESPN. “I wanted to be a part of that, and I felt like I could help be a part of that. And I thought with me signing that extension, it could help [Knicks president Leon Rose] and those other guys get pieces and continue to build the team so we could have that opportunity.”
