Bill Simmons wonders if Knicks had ‘chemistry concerns’ with Julius Randle

In light of the New York Knicks’ decision to trade star forward Julius Randle along with Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Karl-Anthony Towns, Bill Simmons openly pondered whether New York had “chemistry concerns” regarding Randle.

“I feel like there were some real chemistry concerns with Randle,” Simmons said in reaction to the blockbuster trade. “Bringing him in under — as kind of the ugly stepchild of this Villanova Four team. He’s over there, and he’s underpaid by the fact that he’s a top 50 guy. He’s gonna have to play out of position. [Jalen] Brunson’s gonna have the ball all the time. And they must have not liked something.”

Randle spent the last five seasons of his NBA career with the Knicks, and he earned three All-Star nods and a pair of All-NBA selections in New York.

But the 29-year-old saw his final season with the Knicks get cut short due to a shoulder injury he suffered against the Miami Heat back in January. He suited up in only 46 of New York’s 82 games during the 2023-24 regular season and also missed the entirety of the Knicks’ tenure in the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

Maybe if Randle were healthy for the playoffs, New York would have reached its first Eastern Conference Finals since the year 2000, when Knicks legend Patrick Ewing was still on the squad. After all, the Knicks held 2-0 and 3-2 series leads in their second-round matchup against the Indiana Pacers, but the team still lost the series in seven games and dropped the deciding Game 7 at Madison Square Garden.

While losing Randle may be a tough pill to swallow for some fans of the Knicks, New York arguably traded for a superior fit next to Brunson in Towns. Towns is one of the best 3-point shooters at his stature that the NBA has ever seen, and his ability to space the floor should open up more room for Brunson to operate on the offensive end of the floor.

Towns also averages more rebounds per game for his career than Randle, so the Knicks shouldn’t be losing too much in that aspect of the game.

The acquisition of Towns ostensibly raises New York’s ceiling heading into the 2024-25 campaign, and the Knicks project to be one of the top contenders in the Eastern Conference along with the likes of the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers. Perhaps next year will be the year that New York breaks its lengthy streak without an Eastern Conference Finals appearance.