Knicks 2023-24 Player Review: Julius Randle

As sources told the story back in November 2023, Knicks forward Julius Randle had been “operating at about 70 percent” and “limited by pain” in the six-game stretch that saw him fail to break the 20-point barrier to start the season.

Through those six games, in which the Knicks could only go 2-4, Randle averaged 13.7 points barely shooting 27 percent from the floor and 22 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. There was serious talk about Randle’s disastrous start to the campaign as one of the worst ever, but I didn’t (correctly) buy the false narrative.

Anyway, all of that stuff feels like it happened seven years, not seven months, ago. How things changed, and how many more things happened between then and the Knicks’ season end.

It’s funny that Randle, coming off a season in 2023 that finished at the hands of the Heat… would once again wrap a campaign up in another game against Miami… that also ended with the three-time All-Star injured and undergoing surgery.

A year ago, Randle suffered his injury in the postseason. This season, however, things were much worse for him and the outlook of the Knicks as JR went down at the end of January after colliding first with Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez and then with the hardwood, putting a quick-but-delayed end to his campaign.

Randle was so good following that alleged “slump” that nobody doubted his naming to the All-Star game in mid-February. It’s now back-to-back seasons for Randle bagging ASG nods.

Randle could only appear in 46 games, the fewest since his one-game rookie year all the way back in 2014-15, but he posted sublime numbers all across the board, no matter the angle you look at them from.

• Per game: 24 points, 9.2 boards, 5 dimes, 0.8 stocks
• Per 36 minutes: 24.3 points, 9.3 boards, 5.1 dimes, 0.9 stocks
• Per 100 possessions: 34.1 points, 13.1 boards, 7.1 dimes, 1.2 stocks

Randle shot 47.2 percent from the floor, 31.1 from three, and 53.9 from the charity stripe. He posted a True Shooting Percentage of 56.9, barely one percentage point behind his best figure since he joined the Knicks.

All of the above under a Usage Rate of 29.9 percent. I ran a simple query over StatHead and couldn’t even find 20 comparables. To name a few: Giannis, Jokic, LeBron, Durant, Curry, Zion, Luka, Shai, Embiid, and Tatum.

Not bad company, I’d say.

But we’re talking about Julius Randle here, right?

And talking about Randle within the Knicks context and inside an Orange & Blue room will always bring up the same questions: will he stay or will he go? Should he stay or should the Knicks move him at the first chance they have?

It’s been like that since New York drafted Obi Toppin with the No. 8 pick in the 2020 draft. Then, of course, Randle turned into RANDLE and Toppin turned into low-price trade fodder.

Now, with Jalen Brunson having overtaken Julius in the Knickerbocker pecking order, the conundrum has hit New York’s front office once again.

Whatever happens next, and whether Randle retires a Knick not playing anywhere else in the next decade or he gets traded to the Boston Celtics or the Indiana Pacers, I don’t think the perception of JR will ever change.

For those who still don’t accept the fact or think of Randle as a bonafide NBA star—which he absolutely and objectively is—that opinion will stay the same.

What more does this man need to do? Hell, what more can he do?

Again, the ascension’s been ridiculous: 2021 Most Improved Man, 2x All-NBA, 3x All-Star.

We’ve already gone through his (on a much lower level) with the RJ/IQ trade last December. We were sad—I was, at least—seeing two homegrown kids getting moved north of the border, but it turned out it was (at least for the four months we’ve experienced it) for the better.

It feels like the writing is on the wall… or not. Julius Randle is a walking enigma only enlarged by the Knicks faithful, his perception, and how there’s constant talk around him and his front-office-related handling.

It is (probably) too late, and it might sound dated, but enjoy Randle while he’s here. His game is well worth your (and everybody’s) attention.