Getty Julius Randle goes for a basket against the Miami Heat.
It’s been a rough year for the New York Knicks, and it’s been even rougher for All-Star forward Julius Randle.
Last season, Randle made the All Star Team, was named as an All-NBA selection and he took home the Most Improved Player award. It was a lot of hardware to add to his collection and he was rewarded with a four-year, $117 million deal by the Knicks in the offseason.
The expectation was the additions of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier through free agency would be enough for the Knicks to return to the playoffs for the second season in a row. Reality is not always as it seems and the Knicks have been struggling mightily.
Fournier has been streaky all year long, Walker was banished from the rotation for a little while and Randle has regressed in a big way. His numbers are still good, but his efficiency is down across the board. On the year so far, he’s shooting just 41.2 percent from the floor and 30.7 percent from three, both well below his career average. Despite that, he’s putting up 18.7 points per game and nearly 10 rebounds.
He has shouldered a lot of criticism from media and fans, but he remains committed to the team’s future.
Randle Sounds Off
GettyJulius Randle doesn’t want to go anywhere.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Randle reiterated his desire to remain with the Knicks and he believes he can bring a championship to New York.
“I wouldn’t change it. I still wanna be a part of it,” he said. “I still wanna see this thing through. I still wanna be a part of helping trying to bring a championship to the Knicks.”
The championship aspirations are very dim this season, but there’s still a lot of hope for the future. The Knicks are made up of a young core of players who’ll only get better in Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley, Mitchell Robinson and RJ Barrett. The newest Knick Cam Reddish figures to factor into the success of the team going forward as well, even if he hasn’t gotten a chance to show it yet.
If Randle is able to get it figured out and repeat his success from last season, the Knicks could find themselves in a very good situation. Despite the struggles, Randle thinks there’s a future with New York.
“So, I’m not gonna be happy and be all about it when things are good and just because it’s not necessarily going the way I want it to or the team wants it to run and hide,” he continued. “I’m still behind this. I’m still sticking it through.”
The Knicks Star Channels J. Cole
Although things are trending down for the Knicks as of late, Randle thinks there’s a silver lining to the whole situation.
“It’s been hard, but like my man J. Cole says, there’s beauty in the struggle,” he told reporters. “It’s a struggle. We’re trying to figure it out. But this is really where you find out what people are about. This is when you find out about the character of the guys on your team. … We still got a lot of games to play, so I’m excited to see how we push forward and push past it.”
His reference is to J. Cole’s song Love Yourz off his album 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Knicks fans know as much as anybody that when Randle is at his full potential, the team can have a much higher ceiling. They appear to go as he goes, so the Knicks will need him to break out of this slump.
READ NEXT: Trade Could Land Russell Westbrook With Knicks, Says Ex-NBA Exec