Knicks' Tom Thibodeau 'was hardly sold' on Julius Randle after taking head coach job: report

When Tom Thibodeau became the new Knicks head coach, he joined a team with new management that was willing to do what it takes to make the roster better now and for the future. Armed with tons of cap space, there were players that could join the Knicks right away and immediately jolt their winning potential. 

But what about the roster Thibs inherited? What did he think about the potential of the current guys on the squad?

In a wide-ranging piece about how the Knicks constructed their team that is currently the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the second half of the season, The New York Post's Yaron Weitzman had a colleague of Thibodeau tell him that he "was hardly sold" on Julius Randle -- the lone All-Star of the Knicks -- entering the year. Instead, Thibodeau wanted team president Leon Rose to target others on the market. 

Weitzman said Bogdan Bogdanovic, Marcus Morris and Gordon Hayward were among players Thibs "pleaded for Rose to offer long-term deals," who would then be the priority on the roster. 

"There's no rebuilding or long term with Thibs," a former colleague told The Post. 

But Brock Aller, the Knicks' newly-hired VP of basketball and strategic planning who helped the Cleveland Cavaliers build to their peak in 2016 when they won the NBA Finals, disagreed with Thibodeau's want to spend. He'd rather offer smaller deals to players and take on bad contracts from other teams to acquire draft capital in the future. Cap space could be used later on for the right players. 

Aller's plan won in the end, as Alec Burks and Austin Rivers were veterans that came over on short-term deals and cap space was mostly saved. 

Because no big star came to New York, Thibs had to work with what he had and that's where Randle started to shine. He eventually proved his new head coach wrong, as Randle's 23.2 points leads the Knicks while averaging 11.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists as well. 

Players like RJ Barrett and emerging rookie Immanuel Quickley have all played parts in getting the Knicks to where they are today, but Randle's impact has been felt the most.

"He's turned into an All-NBA player, he's been a terrific leader," Thibodeau said of Randle recently.