Getty Julius Randle of the New York Knicks warms up before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Through 11 games played in 2022-23, the New York Knicks find themselves boasting a sub-.500 record of 5-6 and have yet to show any signs that this season will turn out to be significantly different than their lackluster, postseason-less 2021-22 campaign.
Despite their best efforts to bolster the team’s talent pool during the offseason, the Knickerbockers are consistently rolling out a middling and underwhelming cast of characters on a nightly basis, especially when it comes to their starting five.
Led by the likes of RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and free agency acquisition Jalen Brunson, heading into the year fans were hoping to see a rejuvenated ball club ready to put themselves back into the playoff race come season’s end.
Unfortunately, they have simply underwhelmed during these early stages of the season and, as a result, are widely considered to be one of the worst units in the entire league.
In a November 11 power rankings piece by Bleacher Report, the Knicks were seen ranked as the eighth-worst team in the association.
And while many factors have played a part in New York’s mediocre start to the season, according to writer Andy Bailey, one, in particular, seems to be standing out amongst the rest.
Randle a Net Negative For Knicks
Though big man Julius Randle is viewed as arguably the most talented and high-profile player on this current Knicks roster, according to Bailey’s findings, New York has proven to be better off without him on the hardwood these last two seasons.
“For the second year in a row, the team is significantly better when Julius Randle is off the floor,” Bailey wrote. “In 2021-22, his ball dominance and inefficient scoring ground the offense to a halt. This season, it’s the defense that’s disastrous when Randle plays.”
So far this season, with Randle on the court the Knicks sport a putrid net rating of -5.6 while seeing a +3.2 rating when relegated to the sidelines. As far as defense is concerned, when on the floor the club boasts a nauseating 115.9 defensive rating while, when off the floor, they improve significantly to 99.5.
Based on both the eye test and advanced stats, it’s easy to fall under the assumption that the club should strongly consider moving on from the former All-Star, and Bailey certainly agrees with this ideology.
However, he would suggest that committing to such a move could prove to be rather challenging for a multitude of reasons.
“A demotion might seem obvious, but that’s a tough call to make for the team’s second-highest-paid player,” Bailey wrote.
In the end, Bailey believes “something may have to give” in this department, as he noted that New York’s decision to sign Jalen Brunson to a four-year, $104 million contract coupled with the team’s pursuit of Donovan Mitchell this past summer suggests that management wishes to thrust themselves back into playoff contention as soon as this year.
As long as Julius Randle is serving as the main attraction within the system, however, it appears the Knicks are destined to fall short of this presumed goal.
NBA Exec Sees Market For Fournier
In a recent sit down with Heavy Sports’ NBA Insider Sean Deveney, an Eastern Conference executive discussed the idea of the Knicks looking to offload some of their underperforming commodities within the rotation via trade at some point this season.
While many players could be viewed as expendable, when it comes to a guy like Evan Fournier, the exec stated that there could prove to be several ball clubs vying for his services if placed on the trade block, though, they admit that the veteran’s contract situation could prove to be a bit problematic when it comes to finding a worthwhile return package.
“There are a lot of teams struggling to shoot so far, Minnesota comes to mind,” the exec told Deveney. “He would be a good fit there but it is hard for them to put the right contracts together to make that work.
“The Lakers, obviously, but they have nothing really to give back to the Knicks that would help them. Toronto would be a good fit but that’s hard to find a deal there.”
The executive would also state that while Fournier would be of great service to many teams across the league, they also believe that his talents could still be incredibly valuable for the New York Knicks, as they currently rank as the seventh-worst 3-point shooting team while the swingman has converted on 38.1% of his long-range attempts for his career.