Julius Randle isn’t treating Brooklyn like a stopover. He’s treating it like a place that wanted him, and that matters to him.
Now on his fifth team in 13 years, Randle told Brian Lewis of The New York Post that he’s grateful to be in an environment where the message from the start has been clear. He said the feel-good part of the move has been the support from the Nets organization and the sense that he’s valued.
“Everybody knows it’s a business and things happen,” he said. “But when you’re somewhere where you’re really wanted, and you have that validation with an organization really appreciating you and what you bring to the table, it’s an incredible feeling.
It just drops the anxiety and just the worry or the pressure. You just feel like you can be your best self.
So, from Day 1, I felt that: the support. I damn near get goose bumps just thinking about it, because the support has been amazing.
I’m loving every part of it. I appreciate them just as much as they appreciate me.”
Lewis also wrote that Randle is glad to be back in New York and didn’t want to leave the Knicks in 2024. He likes working with Jordi Fernandez, who Lewis noted has a history of getting quality production from veterans since becoming a head coach. And Randle is not buying into the idea that Brooklyn is headed straight for the bottom of the East.
“(General manager) Sean (Marks) brought me here because of that, because it was time to win. So, that’s just what it is,” Randle said.
“I’m not here to lose. I don’t think anybody’s here to lose this year.
So, yeah. We definitely want to be a team that goes out there and competes every single night.
We’re playing to win. That’s as simple as I can put it.
I don’t play to lose. … At this point in my career I’m playing to win and give ourselves a chance to win every single night, take the right steps every single day and see where that takes us.”
The Nets have another young piece about to get his first preseason run. Mikel Brown Jr. said he’ll make his preseason debut Wednesday at Miami after missing Brooklyn’s first three games with a left ankle injury suffered in practice. Brown, the sixth pick in this year’s draft, said he’s been pushing the ankle hard to get back on the floor.
“I’ve been attacking it every single day,” Brown said. “Just to be able to go out there and play basketball again, it’s going to mean the world.”
Chaney Johnson is also making noise in camp. Lewis reported that Johnson, who signed a two-way deal with the Nets last December, is in the mix for rotation minutes this season and could even be headed toward a standard contract. He’s been part of the second unit in preseason and has earned minutes ahead of some former first-round picks.
“This summer, he’s worked really hard,” Fernandez said. “He had a very good summer league (and) he’s (had) a very good camp.
You see his intensity and physicality, and it’s something that we need. Obviously, there’s nothing guaranteed here; he’s got to keep growing.
I think other guys are also doing a great job; so the team is in the right place competing for minutes.”
In Other News...
Nets' Fast Start Is Giving Fans A Reason To Believe
Brooklyn kept its preseason roll going with a 131-122 win over the Wizards, moving to 3-0 while flashing the kind of offensive pace that can make October feel a little more meaningful. Michael Porter Jr. was a steady scoring presence, and the Nets got useful minutes from DayRon Sharpe, Egor Dmin, Keon Ellis and Julius Randle in a game that featured plenty of shot-making on both sides.
The part that stood out most was how Brooklyns second unit changed the feel of the game, helping the Nets separate in a third-quarter stretch that turned a back-and-forth matchup into a more comfortable finish. Preseason results rarely tell the whole story, but for a team trying to build habits and confidence, this was the kind of performance that gives fans something to watch a little more closely. [Read more 🡒]
Nolan Traor Is Turning Up The Heat In Brooklyns Guard Battle
Nolan Traor is starting to make his case the right way for Brooklyn, and preseason has given the rookie guard a chance to show how much his confidence has grown. In the win over Washington, he looked more comfortable as a scorer and a shooter, continuing a steady run of efficient offense over three exhibition games after spending the offseason working on his shot and his finishing.
For a Nets team that has made clear minutes have to be earned, that matters. The guard room is crowded, and Traor is trying to carve out space for himself while competing with Mikel Brown Jr., Egor Dmin and Ben Saraf, so every clean shooting night adds to the argument that he belongs in the mix when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Nets May Have Found A Core Fit Sooner Than Anyone Expected
The preseason has offered a pretty encouraging look at the Brooklyn Nets, and a lot of that early momentum has come from the wing tandem of Julius Randle and Michael Porter Jr. Randle has leaned into a primary playmaking role while also giving the group some veteran steadiness, and Porter has been the kind of scorer who can change the feel of a game in a hurry. Through three exhibition wins, the fit has looked cleaner than many might have expected this early in the process.
What makes it matter for Brooklyn is not just the box score production, but the way the two seem to complement each other as the regular season nears. Randle has talked about helping the Nets contend, and if this early chemistry holds, the team may have stumbled onto something useful before the games start counting. The real question now is whether that preseason rhythm can survive once opponents spend more time game-planning for them. [Read more 🡒]