The Knicks are, by all available evidence, not a huge draw. You’ll notice there’s only very faint Ben Simmons to MSG heat. Hell, the Knicks couldn’t even get a meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge in 2015. But LeBron, Kawhi, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Davis, Paul George, James Harden, even Durant himself in 2016: none of those guys seriously considered New York as they were on their way out of their respective towns.
Rumors were that Kyrie and KD wanted to become Knicks and then changed course after they got a load of Dolan.
#JULIUS RANDLE STATS FREE#
Because who doesn’t want to be in New York? Who doesn’t get a thrill out of playing in the Garden? That theory hasn’t been fully tested, not with Dolan still beefing and bluesmanning, but it feels flimsier as the years pass and big names enter free agency and make trade demands without so much as casting eyes in New York’s direction. The conventional wisdom used to be that if the Knicks got their act together-if James Dolan sold, or at least receded quietly into the background-they could build a contender rather quickly. Who among us has not botched a first date? (And dwelled on it for the rest of our lives.)īesides, he’s the best New York has got, and they’re grateful to have him. We have to allow Randle a couple more chances, before we place him in that condemned group. There are chokers, really gifted and even great players who can’t find their typical rhythm in big games.
#JULIUS RANDLE STATS SERIES#
That the serene beauty of his game abandoned him in his first ever playoff series was disappointing but not wholly unexpected. You didn’t need to generate good looks for him. (To boot, Randle’s actually a better and more willing passer than Melo ever was.) Everybody on the Knicks chipped in-they had to-but Randle’s scoring chops levitated the squad. Thibs’ instruction for Randle was apparently more of a question: Jules, how’s your Carmelo Anthony impression? Turns out it’s more than serviceable. Last season was the first time Randle was in anything like a good basketball situation, with a motivated coach-we perhaps underestimated how much that failed stint in Minnesota burned Tom Thibodeau up-who knew what he wanted to accomplish and a team of castoffs and developing talent pretty well locked into what he was trying to teach them. Then he spent a year in the bayou purgatory of New Orleans before joining a Knicks franchise that was in flux, half building a young core and half keeping their itinerary clear in case a superstar got restless or quixotic, or just wanted to live in Manhattan. He played for Byron Scott and Luke Walton. We generally don’t think of 26-year-olds in their seventh seasons as green, but Randle came into the league while the Lakers were dispensing to Kobe his spiritual pension. Randle wasn’t anything like the star we thought he had become.Ĭan we give the guy a break? If Julius Randle came up much smaller than the moment required, it was at least partially because he’d never experienced anything like this before. But the performances were poor, the whole way through. No seven-shot shot nights he went 8-for-21 like a true pro. To his credit, he stuck with it, didn’t have one of those confidence meltdowns that leaves a lacuna in the offense. He passed out of pressure straight into the waiting arms of Hawks wings, was slow and handsy on the defensive end. All that improbable midrange stuff he had been draining during the regular season became exactly as difficult as it seemed and the shots didn’t fall from deep either. There’s no getting around those five playoff games against Atlanta.
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