From the New York Knicks’ MVP to the player having the worst impact on the team, Julius Randle has been having a pretty bad 2021-2022 season.
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The New York Knicks were amazing last season. But their fans are absolute diehards each season, irrespective of how their team has performed over the last decade.
Everyone would agree that they receive an unfair amount of national attention considering that the team has qualified for just one postseason in the past eight years.
Their poor show ended last year, as they ended the season with a 41-31 record as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, led there by their first All-Star selection since 2017-18, Julius Randle.
But the former Lakers forward and his team had an unforgiving first-round matchup with the Atlanta Hawks. Trae Young and Co effectively game-planned for Randle and won the series pretty conveniently (4-1). While doing that, they showed the entire league how to neutralize New York’s roster.
Neither Julius Randle nor New York Knicks have been effective ever since.
Julius Randle is the worst player on the New York Knicks according to a stat
The Knicks are currently 17-18 (9th in the East). Their position might not suggest it, but they are with limited reason to be optimistic. It’s simply not working as planned. Even before COVID-19 side-lined six of its players, the team was clearly out of sync which lead to Kemba Walker’s exclusion, and then the comeback with a bang as well.
But Julius Randle should be the man to be blamed the most. Ironically, the 2021 Most Improved Player is going downhill ever since he received that award. He’s not only been less impactful, strangely, he is also having the worst impact on his team.
In 455 minutes without Randle on the court this year, the Knicks are outscoring teams by 15.9 points per 100 possessions, which of course would be an all time record.
He must be really nicked up. https://t.co/BYEeWCvs6A
— Jonathan Macri (@JCMacriNBA) December 30, 2021
Through 35 games, Randle has taken a significant drop from last season. He’s averaging over four fewer points per game (19.3) and shooting significantly worse from behind the arc (32.8%). Furthermore, he is turning the ball over at a career-high 3.5 turnovers per contest too.
The Knicks can cash in on their MVP and make him available for a trade as he’s still their most tradable asset. Anyway, they are not going far with the roster they have, they might as well restart.