Knicks Confirm They Failed the Offseason Already With Big 3-Year Deal for Julius Randle

The New York Knicks and it's fanbase suffered on Sunday after seeing coveted free agents Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving sign with the crosstown rival Brooklyn Nets. So, what was the Knicks' official response?

According to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, New York and free agent forward Julius Randle agreed to a three-year, $63 million contract. Take that, haters!

Free agent Julius Randle has agreed to a three-year, $63M deal with the New York Knicks, CAA agents Aaron Mintz and Steve Heumann tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2019

Yeah, about that...

Hours after Durant's reported intention to sign with the Nets was revealed, ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne reported that Knicks owner James Dolan was skeptical of giving the two-time Finals MVP a max contract due to his Achilles injury. And that's surely all KD needed to hear

The Knicks response to this was giving Randle an average annual salary of $21 million over the next three years.

Enes Kanter did say Zion Williamson is Julius Randle with hops. So the Knicks technically signed Zion.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) June 30, 2019

To be fair, Randle has grown into one of the game's more underrated offensive big men, and he broke out this past season with the New Orleans Pelicans in terms of the counting numbers. The power forward averaged 21.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 30.6 minutes, while shooing 52.4 percent from the field. He is limited as a shooter and defender, however, limiting his overall value.

While Randle had a career year on the stat sheet in his lone season in the Big Easy, it will remain to be seen if he can replicate his performance at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks had such high hopes this offseason, trading Kristaps Porzingis in order to free up cap space for two max roster spots, which many believed to be for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Instead, the Knicks gave Randle a huge contract, and he'll face astronomical pressure to live up to it in New York City, the place where dreams are made of. The mood around MSG is decidedly sour.