\n<\/aside>\nJulius Randle got some light boos during pregame introductions in his first home game since his infamous thumbs-down gesture.<\/p>\n
But really it\u2019s not just what the fans think but Knicks brass.<\/p>\n
Randle\u2019s standing with the brass is unknown. The team didn\u2019t comment on Randle\u2019s gesture to Knicks\u2019 fans in the last home game Thursday versus Boston when he gave a symbolic thumbs down to fans. He later profanely explained he did it to have the fans \u201cshut the f\u2013k up.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
And now this latest report about Jerami Grant.<\/p>\n
During 2020 free agency, the Knicks, as The Post has reported, were involved in the Grant Sweepstakes.<\/p>\n
It was a sign they weren\u2019t enamored with power forward Randle after signing him to a three-year, $63 million package in 2019 since Grant plays exactly that position.<\/p>\n
Grant didn\u2019t give the Knicks much of a consideration and the Pistons outbid them anyway in offering the power forward a three-year, $60 million package.<\/p>\nJulius Randle<\/figcaption>NBAE via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nGrant went off the radar as Randle performed brilliantly last season in making his first All-Star Game, winning the league\u2019s Most Improved Player award, being named second team All-NBA and then signing a four-year, $117 million contract.<\/p>\n
And now it may have come full circle. The rebuilding Pistons are open to trading Grant and the Knicks reportedly have shown some interest.<\/p>\n\n\t<\/aside>\nWith their persistent monitoring of the Myles Turner situation in Indiana, it\u2019s a demonstration the Knicks may not be totally sold on Randle for the long term.<\/p>\n
Grant, who has been out since Dec. 10 after undergoing thumb surgery, has played in just 24 games, is averaging 20.1 points but just 4.8 rebounds and shooting 33.1 percent from 3.<\/p>\n
Conceivably, Randle and Grant can work together since Grant can play some small forward. But perhaps it\u2019s part of a larger Randle-Grant swap. Grant was actually chosen over Randle for the U.S. Olympic Team last summer.<\/p>\n
The Knicks do have a potential logjam at power forward long term because of second-year power forward Obi Toppin.<\/p>\n
The Pistons passed on Toppin in the 2020 draft to take point guard Killian Hayes. Toppin has shown signs of promise this season but Randle\u2019s presence blocks his path and he could be on the trading block if Randle is kept.<\/p>\n
The NBA unleashed a $25,000 fine for profanity, though Randle apologized on Instagram and still sounded committed to the organization.<\/p>\nJulius Randle gestures a thumbs-down to Knicks fans.<\/figcaption>Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cJust want to send a quick message to our fans and be clear \u2014 I love NYC and being a part of this team and this franchise,\u201d Randle wrote. \u201cAnd like most Knicks fans, I am really passionate about us being successful.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Are the Knicks committed to Randle? Turner has been on the trade block and the Knicks have long held interest. He\u2019s a stretch 4 \u2014 which has been a hole on the Knicks roster since they traded Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas.<\/p>\n
Randle\u2019s 3-point shot has disappeared this season. Toppin is struggling from long range and none of their four centers even have so much as a reliable jump shot.<\/p>\n
Turner could definitely be a player the Knicks hotly pursue at the Feb. 10 deadline. It really isn\u2019t clear where Grant\u2019s skill set is better than Randle\u2019s other than he\u2019s a better team defender.<\/p>\n
Randle had his first chance to make amends in Boston on Saturday but put forth a lousy six-turnover game and looked to be pressing. When he faced San Antonio on Monday, it was his first chance to win back the fans who adored him last season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Julius Randle got some light boos during pregame introductions in his first home game since his infamous thumbs-down gesture. But really it\u2019s not just what the fans think but Knicks brass. Randle\u2019s standing with the brass is unknown. The team didn\u2019t comment on Randle\u2019s gesture to Knicks\u2019 fans in the last home game Thursday versus<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175],"tags":[621,507,215,1411,409,523],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11052,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11050\/revisions\/11052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nbanewsinsider.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}