While Jalen Brunson's sphere of influence has turned the Knicks into contenders, Julius Randle is why they could become champions.
Quick thought exercise: picture a player with three All-Star appearances and two All-NBA selections in the last four years. A 250-pound power forward, he’s made more threes than Devin Booker, dished out more assists than Donovan Mitchell and grabbed more rebounds than Joel Embiid during that same time frame. For his troubles, he’s paid less annually than Tyler Herro.
Although Brunson has always been in a different stratosphere as a playoff performer, Randle has been roughly his equal during the regular season. Last season, over the 30 games before he got injured, Randle averaged 26.3 points, 9 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game on 61.2 percent True Shooting. And during the abbreviated, pre-injury, post-Anunoby trade stretch, Randle was even better, playing the best ball of his career.
Still, Randle’s standing with the organization feels tenuous as he enters the final year of his contract. Whereas Randle was once a co-headliner with Brunson, the Villanova-fication of the locker room has naturally shunted him to the fringes. Brunson, Hart, Divencenzo and Bridges are real-life besties. Randle is merely their work friend.
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