Knicks fans at MSG give Julius Randle the warm reception he deserves

No, it couldn’t have been easy.

It couldn’t have been easy for Julius Randle to walk into the small, spartan visiting locker room at Madison Square Garden on Friday. It couldn’t have been easy for him to walk past the security guards who used to be his security guards, walk down the tunnel that used to be his tunnel and walk onto the floor that used to be his floor.

It couldn’t have been easy for Randle to return to the arena that less than four months ago he thought would be his forever home. Yet the Minnesota forward managed to remain fairly stoic when the fans, who used to be his fans, cheered him during pregame introductions.

The cheers were exactly what Randle deserved. Though he no longer is a part of this Knicks team after being traded along with Donte DiVincenzo to the Timberwolves for Karl-Anthony Towns in the preseason, his legacy is undeniable.

Randle believed in the Knicks and their potential when almost no one else in the NBA did. When Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and almost every other free agent took a hard pass on the Knicks, Randle risked coming to a franchise that had just finished a 17-65 season and had gone six straight years without making the playoffs.

A year later, after Leon Rose and Tom Thibodeau took over the team, he became the foundational brick that the team built upon. In his five years here, the Knicks made it to the playoffs three  times. Randle averaged 22.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game and earned three All-Star selections as a Knick.

“He was terrific. He had a great run, helped lift the team up,” Thibodeau said before Friday night’s game. “Not only excelled individually but the team excelled while he was here as well. He did a terrific job for us.

“Donte did as well. Obviously, Donte was here for a lot less time, but he had a great impact. Both guys are classy guys, played hard all the time, did a really good job for us.”

The Knicks were one of the most exciting teams in the league last season as they got within one victory of the Eastern Conference finals, and DiVincenzo and Randle were blindsided when the Knicks sent them to Minnesota for Towns on Oct. 2.

Though this was the first regular-season game between the teams at Madison Square Garden, Minnesota did play a preseason game here 11 days after the trade. Randle was injured and did not play in that game. DiVincenzo, still clearly upset about the trade, got into a yelling match with Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson and they had to be separated. Brunson also is the father of Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, who is close friends with DiVincenzo.

It would have been absurd to call Friday night’s game a measuring stick of who had gotten the best of the trade. For one, both DiVincenzo and Towns (who has a sprained right thumb) sat out. And for two, it’s already pretty clear that the Knicks got the best of the deal.

The Timberwolves went to the Western Conference finals last spring after a 56-win season and a playoff run that included a second-round victory over the then-defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

The Timberwolves needed to deal Towns to avoid a huge luxury tax bill and the Knicks badly needed a center. Mitchell Robinson was (and still is) injured and Isaiah Hartenstein signed with Oklahoma City in free agency.

Towns, who had been playing out of position in Minnesota to accommodate Rudy Gobert, has helped take the Knicks to the next level. In 38 games, he is averaging 25.4 points and a career-high 13.9 rebounds. He also is shooting 55.0% from the field and 44.9% from three-point range.

The Knicks entered Friday in third place in the Eastern Conference with a 27-15 record. The Timberwolves have taken a step back and entered the game with a 21-19 record. Randle is averaging 19.5 points and 7.1 rebounds but had only four points through three quarters on Friday.

“We knew we were getting a good player, and in order to get a good player, you need to give up good players,” Thibodeau said. “ . . . We’ve been very pleased, obviously, with Karl.”

The Knicks fans have, too. So much so that it was easy to give Randle a nice ovation, whether he appreciated it or not.