Getty ESPN's Stephen A. Smith.
The New York Knicks’ decision to give Julius Randle the ball with a chance to make a game-winning basket against the Los Angeles Lakers upset one of the media’s more vocal supporters of the Knicks.
“You know what! I’m getting pretty sick & damn tired of [Tom Thibodeau] for the [New York Knicks] calling the number of Julius Randle,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith tweeted after Randle let the game go into overtime after failing to take his shot before time expired. “What more does Jalen Brunson need to do to show that the damn ball needs to be in his hands for the final FG decision???”
Brunson, who led the Knicks in scoring with 37 points, had tied the game at 114 with a floating 7-foot jumper with 24 seconds left. But it was Randle who took the in-bound pass with 4.5 seconds left in regulation and a chance to win it. He grabbed the pass at the 3-point line, squared up against Anthony Davis and drove to the right side of the basket. When he got to the paint with 0.7 seconds on the clock, Davis jumped, anticipating a shot. Instead, Randle made a turnaround to get an uncontested shot, but by then it was too late and the buzzer sounded before Randle could throw up a desperation shot.
WTF Julius Randle?!
What could have been a win for the Knicks ended up being a frustrating 129-123 overtime loss at home, dropping the Knicks to 27-25 on the season two games back of the Eastern Conference’s sixth seed.
New York Knicks Could Make a Trade
The February 9 trade deadline is fast approaching, and though the Knicks have not been active on the trade market, they do have some candidates for trade, including Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose and Cam Reddish.
The Milwaukee Bucks have floated a trade for Reddish that would send Grayson Allen to the Knicks, according to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus.
“The Milwaukee Bucks have been offering wing Grayson Allen to multiple teams, per sources, for various players on the block, including Reddish,” Pincus wrote in a January 26 story.
It appears likely that his days with the Knicks are numbered given that the two sides didn’t agree to an extension before the season and Reddish will hit restricted free agency this offseason.
Sports Illustrated reported that the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat also are interested in Reddish, who hasn’t played since December 3. He’s been considered a healthy scratch ever since then.
Are the New York Knicks Targeting Anybody?
As for a player the Knicks might trade for before the deadline, O.G. Anunoby of the Toronto Raptors has been linked to New York.
“The Knicks and Suns are among the interested suitors in Raptors forward O.G. Anunoby, sources say,” The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on January 30. “New York has shown a willingness to offer multiple first-round picks for Anunoby, according to those sources.”
New York, which missed out on trading for star Donovan Mitchell last summer, could have trading flexibility before the deadline because it is currently holding on to nine first-round picks over the next five years.