Knicks Bulletin: “I really did want to stay in Dallas.”

It’s been a while, but today’s the day. The New York Knicks will grace a hardwood court this evening in downtown Philadelphia to face the Sixers in the return of both teams to competition following the All-Star break.

Both sides enter this contest limping, mind you, with the hosts missing their best player in Joel Embiid and the visitors still waiting for the return of three of their starters—Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, and Mitchell Robinson.

The Knicks held back-to-back practices on Tuesday and Wednesday with coach Tom Thibodeau offering some insights and announcing the comeback of DiVo, iHart, and Bogey for Thursday’s matchup. Here is that and some more from elsewhere.

Tom Thibodeau

On the trio of Bojan Bogdanovic, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Donte DiVincenzo being available for Thursday’s game at Philly...

“Yeah, they went again, so we’ll see where they are [Thursday]. It’s a good sign they felt good, they did a good job today.”

On the possibility of Julius Randle undergoing surgery next summer...

“We’re taking it step by step. It’s premature to say anything until you have all the information.”

“Right now, he’s preparing to come back to play. He’s putting a lot into it, he looks good, he’s got a great spirit about him. He’s working out twice a day, so all things are good right now.”

Jalen Brunson

On the Knicks' outlook for the remainder of the season...

“I think we can get better than what we were. We had a great [14-2 record in] January, and in the middle of February we obviously ended terribly [with five losses in six games before the All-Star break]. But we have a lot of things that we can still improve on. We’re in a good spot, but still room to get better. So a lot to do.”

On the most memorable moment he experienced through the All-Star Weekend...

“The one thing that stood out, I bumped into [actor] Bill Murray. I didn’t know it was Bill Murray at first, and I was like, ‘Oh snap, that’s Bill Murray.’ That was really cool. We had a nice little conversation. Yeah, pretty cool.”

On signing with the New York Knicks...

“Best move.”

On his preference to stay in Dallas even making less money than entering free agency...

“I really did want to stay in Dallas. Before my fourth season in Dallas, my last season in Dallas, we try to extend our contract—whatever we can get. The most we can get is like four years and $55 million.”

“Obviously we wanted to do that, I wanted to stay there and I thought I would be there for a long time. I liked my role there.”

“It’s funny because my agent was like, ‘You can get more [if you opt to hit free agency],’ and I was like, ‘I want to be safe. I’m not trying to gamble right now. This is not something you can really gamble with if it’s out there.’”

On telling the Mavs he’d be cool signing a four-year, $55 million deal before the start of his fourth and final season with Dallas...

“So we went back [to the front office around the 25-game mark] and we were like, ‘Hey, if the deal’s there, we’re thinking about it. I’ll [sign] it, like, right now.’ And still, [the answer] was, ‘No.’ It wasn’t a hard no, it was just like, ‘We want to see.’”

On rejecting that Mavs offer mid-season after he didn’t get traded...

“I was like, ‘No, I think I’ve outgrown that now.’”

On hearing Mark Cuban talking about his willingness to offer him a max deal but never getting it from the Mavs...

“I remember seeing something on Twitter after the game and it was like, Mark [Cuban] saying, ‘we can pay him the most money. He says that in the interview, literally right after the game. And so I’m thinking, like, alright, I’m okay. After that, it was crickets. From my point of view—can’t speak for anyone else—it was crickets.”

On how that led him to move on from the Mavs and signing with the Knicks in July 2022...

“Then I saw New York making moves and all that stuff. Close to home, two hours away from where I was born, parents over the East Coast, whole family is over the East Coast... So I started thinking this could be the real thing... Then here we are.”

Mac McClung (2x Slam Dunk Contest Champion)

On facing Jacob Toppin in the Slam Dunk Contest and Toppin’s performance...

“I think Jacob Toppin had some incredible dunks and already had a crazy dunk for the last dunk but it’s hard for me to make an opinion about someone else’s opinion.”

On Jaylen Brown’s low-level dunks...

“Dunking and being on that stage is not easy. So I wouldn’t give flak to anybody.”