East Notes: Knicks, Julius Randle, Pistons, Hornets, Terry Rozier

Knicks

Power forward Julius Randle seemed to question the Knicks’ heart after dropping a third straight game against the Heat in their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Miami leads, 2-1. (Full story.)

“Maybe they want it more,” Randle said, via Nick Friedell of ESPN. “I don’t know. That’s been who we are all year and we got to find a way to step up and make those plays, keep the season alive.”

• Forward/guard RJ Barrett added that the Knicks have not given up hope. “We’ve got to get back to being the tough, physical team that we’ve been, take care of the defense boards and take care of the ball better,”  Barrett told reporters. “If we can clean that up we have a good chance.”
• Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau has never beaten Heat coach Erik Spoelstra in a playoff series, noted Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “He’s been putting on a clinic,” an Eastern Conference scout said of Spoelstra, via Lewis.

Pistons

• Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant and Nets forward Cameron Johnson are among the available free agents the Pistons might want to pursue, wrote James Edwards III of The Athletic. Grant, of course, played for the Pistons previously.
• Former UConn coach Kevin Ollie, current Pelicans assistant Jarron Collins and current Bucks assistant Charles Lee remain the frontrunners in the Pistons’ coaching search as we relayed here. It will be interesting to see if Lee will return to the Bucks, given that Mike Budenholzer was fired.

Hornets

Guards Terry Rozier and James Bouknight are two Hornets who could be on the move this offseason, per Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer.

“As the heart and soul of the team, there’s no doubt what the veteran guard brings to the table,” Boone wrote of Rozier. “And with three years and more than $73 million remaining on the extension he inked in 2021 that kicked in last August, he may not be overly enticing to prospective trade partners.

“But, he’s just shy of 30 years old and following four playoff-free seasons during his tenure with the Hornets, it’s fair to wonder if he would welcome a change, possibly to a Western Conference team that gets up and down the floor.”

• The Hornets recently worked out Eastern Michigan forward Emoni Bates, the former high school phenom who declared for the 2023 NBA Draft. We have more on Bates right here.