East Notes: Knicks, Julius Randle, Cavs, Celtics, Jayson Tatum

Knicks

Power forward Julius Randle said he’s not nearly as worried about an All-Star nod as he is with trying to win big with the Knicks.

“My job is to win as many games as possible, try to win the championship,” Randle told reporters.

That said, Randle does have incentives tied to his contract should he play in the All-Star Game, which has returned to an East vs. West format this season.

Randle is not among the top 10 frontcourt players in the NBA’s first round of All-Star voting returns.

• In case you missed it, the Knicks could potentially explore another trade ahead of the February deadline, with multiple picks at their disposal. We have the full story here.

Cavaliers

• We discussed the Ricky Rubio retirement, as well as the Donovan Mitchell trade chatter, on the latest Cavs on the Break podcast. You can listen to the full episode here.
• Frankly, members of the Cavs’ front office are said to be stunned that Mitchell rumors are even making the rounds. Not even they can believe people think they might be open to trading him, it seems.
• As we relayed here, Mitchell is also said to be happy in Cleveland and not looking to move on.

Celtics

• The Celtics are likely to hang on to forward Luke Kornet through this weekend’s salary guarantee date, per Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
• The same is expected to be true of small forward Svi Mykhailiuk, point guard Dalano Banton, and forward Lamar Stevens.
• Could the championship window for guard/forward Jayson Tatum be closing? Fox Sports’ Collin Cowherd sure seems to think so. “Tatum was not ready when he first got into the league,” Cowherd said. “Now he’s not as good as the young guard.”