Getty Julius Randle of the New York Knicks walks off the court after game five of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Since initially joining the New York Knicks back in the summer of 2019, Julius Randle has gone on to claim two All-Star and All-NBA nods, has finished eighth in the running for league MVP, and has guided the organization to two postseason berths.
And yet, even with such luxurious accomplishments and accolades, when speaking on the team’s path toward winning a championship on a recent episode of the Bad Weather Fans podcast, storied sports announcer Ian Eagle made the bold claim that he does not see a scenario where they reach such heights with the big man serving as their focal point.
“If you’re asking me is he one-A, is he one-B to win a title, probably not. He isn’t,” Eagle said. “If you’re asking me, can you win a championship with Julius Randle as part of your team, I think you can. But it will require him to maybe see the game through a different lens and that’s going to be the challenging part.”
Ian Eagle on Julius Randle
Eagle would continue on by acknowledging that Randle has shown the ability to step up for the Knicks in major ways throughout his four-year tenure with the club, though suggests that, in order for them to take the next step forward, he’ll need to take a back seat and let others such as Jalen Brunson take on the role of unquestioned leader.
“Randle has been an alpha, and when the Knicks needed an alpha he did step forward and he did take on a lot, and I do think Tom Thibodeau appreciates the things that he brings to the table,” Eagle said. “But there are other parts that he is going to have to secede here a bit, and more so to Jalen Brunson to be the guy. Brunson’s the guy right now and how everything else shapes up will probably go a long way into determining what the Knicks look like here in the [2023-24] season.”
During Brunson’s first season in the Big Apple, it did appear that Randle was willing to cede top-dog responsibilities and allow the point guard to serve as the de facto orchestrator of the offense. As a result, the Knicks cultivated their best record and first playoff series win since the 2012-13 campaign.
However, for them to jump from being a second-round exit to a legitimate title contender, Eagle is of the belief that the gap between these aforementioned talents needs to be a bit wider.
RJ Barrett Struggled to Mesh With 2022-23 Knicks Roster
Though Eagle is under the impression that Randle needs to find a way to properly fit into a new-look rotation with Brunson serving as head honcho, an Eastern Conference executive pointed out to Heavy Sports earlier this summer that former lottery pick RJ Barrett needs to do a better job of meshing with the both of them.
In a sitdown with NBA insider Sean Deveney back in May, the anonymous exec went on record to state that the wing’s struggles to competently serve as the third option within Thibodeau’s scheme have seemingly complicated things for the team as a whole.
“He did not seem to know how to handle playing with Jalen Brunson, and that is a concern. He has had trouble adjusting to his role at every turn and the Knicks don’t always seem to know what to do with him. They’ve tried him at the two, they’ve tried him at the three, they had him trying to run point for a bit a while back, and he just has not found a good fit. He’s the [number three] option on that team now and that has been a tough adjustment. You’d like to see him excel in his role but that has not been the case for him at all,” the executive told Deveney.
Since entering the league as the third overall selection back in 2020, Barrett has become a rather polarizing talent. While his per-game averages seem to suggest that he’s a promising franchise cornerstone (18.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists for his career), his advanced metrics point to an incredibly inconsistent player.
Just recently, in fact, he was slammed by Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey as being the second most overrated player in the league from over the last five years.
“During his four seasons, only 15 players have logged more total minutes than Barrett, and that might actually contribute to his rank in points added by field-goal shooting, defined by Basketball Reference as ‘The number of extra points added by Field Goal Attempts made above league average.’ Without free throws, Barrett has scored 3,958 points on 4,157 shot attempts, or 503.4 fewer than a league-average shooter would have. The only player further below zero during his career is Russell Westbrook, who is obviously doing a lot more as a passer and rebounder than Barrett,” Bailey wrote.
Bailey would continue on with his argument by diving deep into Barrett’s statistics, highlighting his putrid plus-minus rating by pointing out that “the Knicks are minus-1.9 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor over his four seasons, compared to plus-3.9 without him.”
NBA Legend Praises Knicks Home Court
Though the Knicks as a whole may still have some work to do before thrusting themselves into the legitimate title contender conversation, perennial All-Star and current member of the championship-hopeful Golden State Warriors, Chris Paul believes that their home court, Madison Square Garden, is certainly a place built for legends.
“My favorite arena environment-wise is the Garden — the Madison Square Garden,” Paul said on the “Sloane Knows” podcast. There’s nothing like it. Madison Square Garden is so dope because the energy in there is obviously, you’re in the mecca, but they really appreciate good basketball.”
Throughout his soon-to-be 19 years in the association, Paul has squared off against the Knicks on 26 separate occasions, half of which have taken place at MSG where, during said games, he has posted stellar averages of 19.2 points, 9.8 assists, and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 52.4 percent from the field and 56.1 percent from deep in front of the New York-based crowd.