Tom Thibodeau reflects on Julius Randle’s ‘terrific’ Knicks run before his return to Madison Square Garden

When Julius Randle signed with the Knicks successful the summertime of 2019, helium joined a squad that had conscionable suffered its sixth consecutive losing season.

The Knicks were caller disconnected of a 17-win run that matched the worst play successful franchise history.

Days earlier, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving had spurned them for the crossborough Nets.

It was understandable that Randle’s three-year, $63 cardinal declaration went a spot nether the radar astatine the time, but the powerfulness guardant proved instrumental successful the Knicks’ turnaround.

Friday nighttime marked Randle’s archetypal crippled backmost astatine Madison Square Garden since the Knicks traded him and Donte DiVincenzo to the Minnesota Timberwolves successful the three-team blockbuster that brought halfway Karl-Anthony Towns to New York.

“He had a large tally and helped assistance the squad up,” Knicks caput manager Tom Thibodeau said Friday of Randle. “He not lone excelled individually, but the squad excelled portion helium was here.”

Towns did not play Friday owed to a sprained thumb, portion DiVincenzo sat with a sprained toe, but Randle earned a large ovation during pregame introductions.

Randle averaged 22.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists per crippled and earned 3 All-Star selections successful his 5 seasons with the Knicks.

The Knicks made the playoffs successful his 2nd play — Thibodeau’s archetypal — and continued to ascend with the consequent arrivals of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and others.

Randle, 30, was not a cleanable subordinate with the Knicks.

The shot would instrumentality excessively overmuch to him astatine times, starring to mediocre changeable selection.

His statistic dipped during his 2 postseason appearances, and helium did not play successful past year’s tally to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals owed to a season-ending enarthrosis injury.

He infamously gave a thumbs-down motion to Knicks fans who had been booing astatine the Garden during a 2022 victory.

But Randle’s tenure is 1 Thibodeau looks backmost connected fondly.

“He did a terrific occupation for us,” Thibodeau said.

DiVincenzo, meanwhile, signed a four-year, $50 cardinal declaration with the Knicks successful 2023. He yet played lone 1 play with the Knicks, but helium rapidly emerged arsenic a instrumentality favorite.

The sharp-shooting DiVincenzo thrived alongside erstwhile Villanova teammates Brunson and Hart and acceptable a Knicks single-season grounds for 3-pointers by making 283 past year.

The fanfare lone grew erstwhile DiVincenzo drilled game-winning 3-pointers successful Game 2 of the Knicks’ first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers and successful Game 1 of their second-round series with the Indiana Pacers.

“Donte was present for a batch little time, but helium had a large impact,” Thibodeau said. “Both guys were classy guys, played hard each the time, and did a truly bully occupation for us.”

But this offseason spelled the extremity of Randle and DiVincenzo’s stints successful New York.

The Knicks and Randle failed to scope a declaration extension, portion the departure of Isaiah Hartenstein and the continued absence of Mitchell Robinson pursuing May’s ankle country near the Knicks without a starting center.

They saw an accidental to adhd Towns, a four-time All-Star who was astir to statesman a four-year, $224 cardinal declaration extension.

Towns was coming disconnected of a quiescent Western Conference Finals, had been playing retired of presumption astatine powerfulness guardant to accommodate Rudy Gobert, and was nary longer Minnesota’s focal constituent owed to the emergence of Anthony Edwards.

The Knicks and Wolves made the commercialized connected Oct. 2, little than 3 weeks earlier the commencement of the regular season, with the Charlotte Hornets helping to facilitate it.

The 6-11 Towns rapidly proved to beryllium a cleanable fit, thriving arsenic a pick-and-roll spouse with Brunson portion putting up career-best shooting numbers.

“We knew we were getting a bully player, and successful bid to get a bully player, you request to springiness up bully players,” Thibodeau said. “The biggest happening was the request astatine the halfway position. We knew losing Isaiah and past having Mitch injured, we had to capable that need. We’ve been precise pleased, obviously, with Karl.”

Towns, who hails from adjacent New Jersey, is averaging 25.4 points per crippled portion shooting 55.0% from the tract and 44.9% from 3-point range. He is averaging a career-high 13.9 rebounds per game.

His Knicks entered Friday astatine 27-15, bully for 3rd spot successful the Eastern Conference, adjacent if a caller 3-5 agelong renewed concerns astir the team’s extent pursuing the trade.

The Timberwolves, meanwhile, arrived astatine the Garden with a disappointing 21-19 grounds aft finishing 3rd successful the West past play astatine 56-26 and advancing to the league finals.

Randle did not play successful the Wolves’ preseason crippled astatine the Garden. He scored 24 points successful their 133-107 nonaccomplishment to the Knicks successful Minnesota past month.

Randle entered Friday averaging 19.5 points per crippled connected 47.8% shooting, but the new-look Wolves’ chemistry remains a “work successful progress,” caput manager Chris Finch said.

“I got thing but a batch of admiration for Julius for what we’ve asked him to do,” Finch said. “We’ve asked him to score. We’ve asked him to play-make. We’ve asked him to defender successful a batch of antithetic situations. His biggest publication for america has been doing each of that.

“Our inconsistencies truthful acold this season, everybody’s benignant of trying to set and fig retired the caller reality, and he’s been astatine the beforehand of that. He’s done it all.”